Adventure!
by Shojo
Summary: What if one day when you woke up... you were on Outset Island... what if Aryll was your sister... what if Link... was nowhere to be found? Chapter 11! Finally!
1. A Voice On The Wind

Chapter One: A Voice on the Wind

**Blah-dee-dah Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, 'cept for the ones introduced in this chapter, o'course.**

_Why...why is it so cold?_

_The wind tussles my hair._

_I shiver._

_The snow falls gently in front of me._

_Where am I?_

_A man appears in the distance._

_Who... who is he?_

_He seems a university student._

_21, no more._

_He walks towards me._

_His face._

_His air._

_So familiar._

_He's shivering._

_His expression._

_Icy cold._

_His visage._

_Flushed._

_He passes by._

_Indifferent._

_To me._

_But leaves on the wind._

_With one whisper._

"Touya!" A voice shouted.

"Wah!" I jumped out of my seat. "Huh? Ah? What... where am I?"

I glanced around. Oh god. I had fallen asleep in class again. Around me was a small classroom, no more than 15 students, and a teacher at the front writing on his chalkboard. The man was middle-aged, balding, and wore faux-formal clothing. He quickly wrote notes on the chalkboard while I talked with my friend.

Oh, but I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? My name is Touya Moamushi. I'm 14, tall, handsome, and _single_. My hair is long and black, and I'm moderately popular. My friend is Harya Ki. She's 15, of moderate height, pretty, and also, _single_. Welcome to Biology 10, the most lethally boring class in the school. And no, not just Biology 10, it's period 5. The most boring class in the world on the last hour of the day. On Friday. My birthday. The 22 of December. Bloody hell.

"Touya, what'cha doin for your birthday?" Harya asked innocently.

"Oh, shut up, Harya. You know you're invited, so don't act all innocent. I'm just having a get-together with my friends." He replied.

"You mean me?"

"Exactly."

The teacher had taken a stance behind me and shouted in my ear, "I'm so glad that you are being attentive, Moamushi-kun. Now, How about you and your friend, Ki-chan, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!"

I glared at him, but hesitantly stood up and slid out of class, as did Harya.

"I guess I'll see you tonight." I whispered to her, as I walked out of class.

I opened the white apartment door quietly, and snuck in inconspicuously. I crept down the long hallway to the left of the door, as my mom came screeching around the corner behind me, all dressed up in long blonde hair, miniskirt and leather jacket. All my friends always said I had a hot babe for a mom. Sick bastards.

"Touya Hazaki Moamushi!" She screamed. Uh-oh. She used my full name. That means trouble.

I turned around nervously, "H-hey, mom. Something wrong?"

"Don't you 'hey mom' me!" She continued, "What are you doing home? School isn't out for 15 minutes!" She continued her anger-filled stare, until she slouched and sighed, "Oh, it's no use. Nevermind about that, what do you want for supper?"

I smiled, "I'm so glad you asked! I'd like don-katsu with miso soup."

Mom grinned, and said, "Ugh. You're so boring! Oh, and I got you something for your birthday, and all." At that statement, she pulled a rectangular-shaped package out of her jacket, and handed it to me. "It's the latest issue of Be-Boy Magazine! Nya! Just kidding! But you can't open it until your friend comes over!" And with that, she turned back into the kitchen.

I spun back around and headed into my room, the second door on the right. I opened the door, and there was my room. All-out otaku paradise. Inuyasha bed. Neon Genesis Evangelion hand-painted shelf, stacked high and low with manga. Video games, satellite TV (with 24-hour anime), a cardboard box filled with every single type of Pocky on the market, and every square inch on every wall plastered with posters. And, oh yeah, I'm pretty freakin' proud of it. I settled into my bed, throwing off my jacket and shoes, and relaxed. The plush sheets got the better of me, and, pretty soon...

I woke with a start. What time is it? The clock over my TV displayed 20:00. 8:00 PM? Wow, time flies. I jolted out of my room, and, as if on cue, my mom's voice yelled,

"Touya! Supper!" Before the second 'p', I was there, sitting at my spot, and Harya was across from me. Mom twirled around, and nearly jumped, as I had appeared out of nowhere.

After passing out the food, mom sat down, and we began eating, and just after it had begun, it was over, and Harya and I were in my room.

"Hey, Touya-kun," she said politely, "Do you want your present from me, now?"

"Is that a trick question?" I said jokingly, and she handed a large box to me.

"I hope you like it." She stated coyly, and nearly blushing. I took the lid off the box. Inside was...!

Another box.

I opened it.

Another box.

Opened it.

Another.

Open.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Finally, this box was the size of a floppy disk.

Opening it was a tiny wrapped strip. "Wow, this is getting old, fast." I stated.

Inside the wrapping paper was a strip of paper. I opened it and read it.

The text was:

"Will you go out with me?"

I blushed, and looked up at Harya, who at this point was as red as a cherry. She looked about ready to kill herself at any moment. I smiled, and asked, "Harya, don't you have a boyfriend?"

She replied, barely loud enough to be heard, "He dumped me after school because I was hanging out with you. But, I didn't even like him that much. He was so stuck up and full of himself. I've always liked you, Touya. You're cool, you're sensitive, a bit of a coward, but you always put others first, and--" I cut her off, as I kissed her on the cheek.

"I don't make it a habit to respond to love letters, but..." I kissed her on the lips this time, "...I think I'll make an exception this time."

Now, not only did she look like she would die, she looked like she could faint, or drool, or possibly both, at any moment. Nearly falling backwards, she flailed her arms out behind her, feeling something on the floor. She flipped around, and saw the gift from mom, which I had left on the floor.

"What's this?" She asked innocently, passing the rectangular package to me.

"Huh? OH! It's my present from mom. I guess I can open it, now that you're here." I replied. I tore at the christmasy packaging, revealing my gift.

A video game box, the size of a DVD case, was hidden in the wrapping. On the front, were the words 'GameCompilation: Volume 4 – RPG'.

"Oh, WOW!" Harya exclaimed. "I've heard of this game! Can I see it?" I quickly handed it to her, and she looked at it for several moments, until she flipped it over and read the back, "New to the GameCompilation series is this volume, devoted to some of the best of the best of the role-playing game world. Featured in this volume is 'The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker'. The cartoony graphics provide a thin front for the dark undertones in the story of this game. Taking place centuries after the previous installments, Link must go across the Great Ocean to save his sister from a giant bird, but ends up being whisked away into something much deeper! The second game featured is 'Earthbound'. This is a cult classic from the Super Nintendo era. Ness is a perfectly normal child, until a meteor falls in a field nearby and he is lead on an adveture of a life time! The final game in this volume is 'Final Fantasy VII'. This is the boundlessly popular, amazingly famous seventh game in Square's famous Final Fantasy series. Cloud works for Shin-ra, an umbrella corporation for the people of Midgar, but after joining Avalanche, a group rebelling against them, he finds himself on a journey unlike anything else! Caution: This game may cause severe injury and death."

As Harya read the last sentence, she raised an eyebrow, and looked at me, but I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Should we play it?" Harya asked, again, almost painfully innocent.

"Sure... but I get to play it first!" I exclaimed, stealing it from her hands.

She fake-pouted, "You're so cruel!"

I crawled over to the TV, and turned it on, along with one of the many game systems. I pushed a button, and a slot opened on the system. Inserting the disc, I jumped up on one of the chairs sitting by the TV. The black screen changed to a logo, and then to a starting screen. It displayed 'GameCompilation: RPG; Start; © 2006 Metaco'. Of course, I selected 'Start', and the screen went black once again. Soon after, white text began scrolling across the screen, 'Please input your name.' I put in 'Touya', and pressed start. The screen became black again.

And stayed black.

For a while.

And more.

Finally, I got up, "Stupid thing!" I shouted, hitting the machine, "It froze on me!"

I shut it off, and turned it back on, but nothing would happen. "Damn." I said, "What a waste of money!"

Harya stood up and kissed me on the cheek, "It's okay. I think I've had enough excitement for one day."

Harya began for the door, and I yelled, "What do you mean you had enough excitement? We've just proclaimed our love for each other! Aren't we supposed to have hot sex now?"

Harya giggled, "Teehee! Touya, Christmas is in three days! Don't you know anything? You're supposed to have a romantic christmas, followed by dinner at a fancy restaurant, then we go to a hotel, and THEN you get laid!"

"Oh, yes. I see." I replied, blandly, "Why do you have to be so conforming?"

"It's just my nature!" She giggled again, and escaped out the door.

I sat in silence for several minutes. She's so... so damn cute! I glanced over at the TV, still displaying a blank screen. What a rip-off. I shut off the TV and system, shut off the lights, and lied in my bed. I'll have to get that game checked out. And as I lied in my bed, my mind still racing with thoughts, I could hear pattering footsteps down the hallway. Harya came running into the room, searching for her bag. I quickly closed my eyes, and pretended to be asleep. Harya saw that I was sleeping, and continued her search quietly. She soon found her bag, and walked over to me on my bed. She bent over me, and quietly kissed me on the lips. She bolted out the door without a sound, and overwhelmed, I soon gave into the warm, embracing clutches of sleep.

_What is this scent?_

_It smells like... sea water._

_I hear seagulls overhead._

_Am I awake?_

_Am I dreaming?_

_No..._

_This is too vivid to be a dream._

_I open my eyes._

_I see..._

_In front of me..._

_Blue._

_Like his face._

_Blue._

_Like water._

_I slap my face._

_The pain._

_It's real._

_This._

_This must be real._

_I stand up._

_Looking out..._

_I see the blue._

_Water on the horizon._

_Like the sky._

_A reflection cast._

_To my side._

_An island._

_Two small islands._

_Connected by a bridge._

_4 houses._

_A forest._

_Where... where am I now?_

_A girl's voice is heard behind me._

_"Big Brother."_

Satsuka no Kansou (Author's Thoughts)

Ah, so the story begins. I've been wanting to write a 'person waking up in a video game' story for a while, but I never got the chance. I also love writing that free-verse poetry. What else can I say? Also this is (technically) my fourth fanfic. A story done, a one-shot done, and a story in progress. Also, about some of the Japanese used in this story. I use a lot of Japanese lingo, sometimes, so I'm sorry if I happen to confuse you. Don-katsu is a pork cutlet, breaded and deep fried, melt-in-your-mouth, and probably the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. Miso soup is fish stock with various vegetables and tofu mixed in. Be-Boy Magazine is a yaoi magazine. That is, a magazine focusing on gay relationships and sex. This is a joke because Touya is obviously NOT gay! Manga are japanese comics, usually read right to left. Anime are japanese cartoons. An otaku is a person who is obsessed with said anime and manga. Inuyasha and Neon Genesis Evangelion are both extremely popular anime and manga series. Finally, Pocky is a japanese snack that is insanely popular. They were invented in 1965, and are basically a biscuit stick dipped in some sort of flavoured frosting. Whew! That was a big explanation. Other than that, I've got not much else to say. See you next chapter, and R&R please!

-Shojo


	2. The Unfamiliar Place

Chapter Two: The Unfamiliar Place

"_Big brother."_

I sat up with a jolt. A splinter of wood caught in my palm, and I cringed in pain as blood dripped slowly down my hand.

"Big brother!" The girl exclaimed, running up to me. She was wearing a very calm robe and had long blonde hair. She was very short. "Oh, big brother! Does it hurt?"

"Nope." I said, obviously fibbing. I never was a very good actor. "And why do you keep saying 'big brother'? I'm an only child!"

"Aww, big brother, don't be so mean! And on your birthday, too!" She whined, yanking the chunk of wood out of my palm. Now the blood was flowing more, running excessively down my arm and hand.

"Huh? (EYAH!) Oh, yeah. (AGH!) It's my birthday. (OWW!) What about it?"

"Grandma wants to talk to you. She's at home."

"Home?" I asked inquisitively. "Where?"

"Oh, you silly! It's over there!" She said giggling, and she pointed to the farthest house on the other island. "And come back when she's done! I have a present for you!"

I smiled lightly, although it was simply a front. Inside I was freaking out. Where the hell am I was the main phrase that repeated over and over.

I quickly stood up and walked over to the ladder nearby, and began climbing down. It appears that I was on a look out of some sort. I now almost laughed at the repetitive pain in my hand. The blood was coagulating in the wound, so the blood would stop flowing eventually.

After climbing down, I walked onto the first island, which was connected to the lookout by a thin wooden bridge. I stepped through the clean, calm grass that began to be ruffled by the slight breeze running through the air. I passed by a house to my left, and I stepped onto the bridge connecting the two islands. There was an occasional stone in the water that impeded on the progress of the bridge.

Continuing on, I ran through a grassy area as before and into the house up ahead. I could hear a man yelling at me to look up at him as I passed a house, but I ignored him. Entering in 'my' house, there were two visible floors, one containing a rug, a bunk-bed, a rocking chair, some stools, and a warm fireplace, a good fire already stoked inside. The upper floor contained nothing more than a rug and a family shield hung on the wall. In front of me was an old woman, maybe 60. I walked up to her, and she began talking.

"Oh! Link! There you are!" Link? Who was this old woman talking about? I hope she's not senile at this age. "I have a surprise for you!" She held out her hands, and she handed a pile of green clothes to me. I looked at them with disgust. "Oh, Link! Don't give me that! It's our island's tradition that every boy must wear the Legendary Hero's clothing on their 12th birthday! It's an honour! And you only have to wear them today! So put them on already!" I whined, but hesitantly threw them on. Wow! They're so heavy! Does the senile lady expect me to wear them in this weather? I'll die! And I'm not 12, I'm 14! I don't look that young... do I?

"Uh-heh-heh. I... love them." I said, suddenly feeling exausted. Everything going on just wiped me out completely. "Is it okay if I just have a nap for a bit?"

"Of course," She replied. "As long as you go up to visit your sister later."

Sister? Wow, even the senile lady's lost it. But I slowly drudged over to the bunk bed by the fireplace and lied down.

And soon...

I sat up. Annoyed by the dissatisfying sleep, I left the house. While walking to the lookout, I was dieing in the sweltering heat. I climbed up the tall ladder, noticing the pain had evaporated. Once I finished climbing the wooden ladder, and found 'my sister' sitting up there, still waiting for me. She wheeled around and smiled at me. 

"Oh, big brother! You're finally back!"

"Ah-heh-heh. Yeah. So I am. What do you want?"

"You silly! I already told you! It's your birthday! And... um... gee, those clothes look REEEEEEEEALLY hot! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Note to self: Learn to Act.

"Anyways, I have a birthday present for you! Here!" The girl gave me a telescope. It looked like she treasured it, no matter how inexpensive it was. "But you hafta give it back to me later, okay? But try it. Try looking at our house from here."

I smiled slightly, but held the telescope up to my eye and looked down at the house. By the house, there was a strange bird man removing letters from the mailbox. Was he a post man? He had a mailbag, but...

Suddenly, he shot a glare up in the air, and franticly began to take flight. My 'sister' screamed, "BIG BROTHER! LOOK! UP IN THE AIR!" I quickly pointed my telescope up to the sky, and a giant phoenix-like bird appeared, holding a young girl in it's arms. It squawked loudly, piercing my ears, and a cannonball went flying past it, just narrowly missing. I looked down to my left, where a great pirate ship was sailing in the water. It shot another cannonball. It smacked right into the bird, causing it to drop the girl, and fly away quickly.

The girl fell far, as if to her doom, but landed safely inside the forest. My sister exclaimed, "Big brother! Did you see that? You have to help her! But you need a sword or something to go into the forest... but no one even knows how to use a sword on this island anymore... do they?"

My sister's words left an impression. She was right. No matter how much of a coward I am, I had to help that girl. I nearly slid down the ladder, and I sprinted to the house on the second island that I had passed by on the way to granny's house. I ran in, and an old man, probably older than 75, stood there shirtless and holding a spear. He looked very wise.

His words he spoke rasped out with a gentle kindness and were highlighted with an overtone of fury, "Hello, Link. Have you come to be taught in the ways of the sword."

Senility runs deep in this village. "Uh... yeah, I have. Or hath. However you speak english. And was that even a question?"

"No, it was an assumption." He spoke again, "No other reason there would be to visit me."

December 22, 2006. The day grammar died. "Then begin, we shall. My hour draws on apace. Soon take leave, must I, for a maiden, rescue, shall I provide."

The man grabbed a small sword, and handed it to me. "I want you to come at me. Attack me with your sword."

I walked towards him and swung. He deflected it, and shouted, "Good! Now 8 more times!" I swung again, as he said, and he continued, "Now jump at me!" I jumped at him, forcing my sword down with me. I did this eight more times, and he spoke again, "Lunge, now!" I ran at him, stabbing my sword towards him. He deflected it again and again, until finally he responded, "Now spin your sword to attack!" I pulled my sword behind me, and swung out ahead, causing me to spin in a circle and hit him. I did it again, and he said for the last time, "Now parry!" He began walking towards me at this point, and got in a stance. His sword came before me at lightning speed, and I jumped above him. My acrobatic skills intact, I slashed down behind him, and did it once more. "Excellent!" The man exclaimed, amused by my progress.

He returned to the centre of the dimly lit, cavelike room, as he was before, and spoke to me. "Good job, Link. I'm proud. Keep the sword, on the condition that you use it only for good purposes." I smiled at the old man as thanks, and left the room. I suddenly snapped back to earth, noticing that the pirates were docking on the short dock just metres away, and sprinted for the first island again.

I ran around the house on the first island, tripping and landing face first on the grass. I cursed under my breath, and pulled my legs in front of me. Wait... WHAT? My legs... they're... STUBBY! Oh no! I have stubby legs! Why didn't I notice this before? Am I blind? I looked over the rest of my body. AH! This... THIS ISN'T MY BODY! Wait... I remember this... this body... I saw it somewhere before... OF COURSE! This is the body of the HERO! I... I... transformed? ...the hell? I tried to stand up, but collapsed. My right ankle...! AGH! It's sprained! This is not my day!

I awkwardly stood up, leaning on the handle of my sword. It's hard to adjust to a body when you realize it isn't even yours. I limped to a path upwards of the house I had passed, cutting down some small trees in the process. I limped up the long, winding dirt path, surrounded by rock walls. At the top, there was a large tree, a natural pedestal in the grass, and a bridge connecting the tops of the two islands.

I hopped across the unsturdy wooden bridge, skipping over a missing plank in the middle. I was straining through, toughing out the pain, and I stumbled into a cave entrance to the forest.

Inside, there were trees, of course, bushes, grassy areas, and a raised section in the middle, containing a giant tree. And on one of the jutting branches hanged a girl. The same one we saw before! I ran to the area where the tree was, and jumped, but try as I might, it was too high.

"Damn it." I muttered, and slowly stumbled to a walkway to my right. The path, which led up like a ramp, was followed by a quick drop, and I fell, dropping my sword as well. I stood up slowly, as an enemy up ahead caught my eye. It was a sort of tall green demon, carrying a spear alot like the one the old man had used. I limped up to it, and it snapped to attention and ran towards me. "Crap." I muttered again. "This really isn't my day."

I waved my sword towards him, slashing him in time to get it back into the crutch position. He took damage, clearly, but attacked me back, stabbing me in my right arm. "Daaaaaaaamn it all!" I whined, but continued slashing him until he was dead.

I climbed up a tree trunk nearby slowly, hopping over to another raised area, which was followed, again, by a freakin' big drop. I fell down, again, and slowly limped through the small area. There were no enemies, thank God, and there were two more raised bits ahead of me, acting as a sort of staircase to the tree where the girl was. I chuckled cynically, and made my way across, but soon, two more demons fell from the sky, carried by birds, and started attacking me.

"Oh my god!" I screamed, as they were preparing to stab me, "Show respect for a cripple!"

They began to stab me, now in my left leg, and suddenly... without an explanation... my mind went blank.

I snapped awake what seemed like moments later, and the demons were on the ground dead, carrying mystical purple jewels. I picked one up, and looked at it. It looked cool, but not very valuble. I dropped it on the ground and stabbed it with by sword. I had no use for such a thing, anyways. The jewel exploded, and it suddenly began to rain red hearts and green crystals.

I looked at everything. The crystals must be currency, or something. They're called... I think, rupees. Don't they use these in third-world countries, 'n stuff? I gathered all of the rupees, and picked up a red heart. Weird. Suddenly, the heart seemed to jump out of my hand, and it entered my chest.

A strange sensation covered my body. It feels like... a warm tingling. Like being held... by someone you love... The pain in my arm and leg suddenly disappeared, and I looked at the wounds. They're closing up on their own, and the blood is evaporating. At the same time, the blisters that had been forming on my palms and the hole from the chunk of wood had sealed themselves. There was still pain I could feel in my body, but grabbing a second heart and feeling the same sensation, it evaporated.

I walked towards the tree, noticing my ankle had fixed itself. I hopped up to the tree, and at that same instant, the tree's branch gave way, and the girl fell to the ground.

"Ouch..." She moaned standing up, "Stupid bird. I'm only lucky it hadn't taken me all the way to..."

"Oy!" A pirate interrupted, entering the stone entrance at that moment, "Miss Tetra! Over here!"

"It's about time you saved me. If that bird had gotten away with me..." She mumbled, jumping down from the ledge and walking to the pirate.

"Oh, but Miss Tetra... you should be thanking this young man. This forest is supposed to be full of monsters... I think he got rid of them all just to rescue you." The pirate mumbled back.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever." Tetra said as she left the forest, and the pirate hesitantly followed.

Huh. I didn't hear even the slightest thank you. What ever happened to manners...? Actually, I should talk. I jumped down from the ledge, and walked through the tall grass to the entrance.

On the outside, the pirate and Tetra were waiting, and my sister was on the other side of the bridge.

"Big brother!" She shouted happily and ran across the bridge to meet me. In the distance, however, I heard a thunderous squawk, and I looked. The phoenix bird was back! It swooped down on the bridge at break-neck speeds and grabbed her.

My throat clogged up, and suddenly, I screamed, "Sis!" I ran for the edge of the cliff. If I reach out... just far enough... maybe...

I dropped down the cliff, and Tetra's hand grabbed my ankle. "Stop!" She yelled, "She's gone now! There's nothing you can do!" With the help of the pirate, she pulled me up, and reached out for my face. Using a finger, she wiped a tear that had welled up in my eye, "God. Don't be such a baby."

I... was crying...? Why? I didn't feel sad... I just did what felt... right...

We walked down to the beach near where the pirate ship had docked. "What... you want to come with us?" Tetra said amazed.

"Yeah." I replied sadly, "I have to help her... I mean, my sister..."

"Oh god. Save me the emotions..." She groaned, "I mean, why should we take you with us?"

"It's pretty obvious, I think." A voice said, approaching us. It was the mailbird, "His sister was taken away by that bird. And you know why?"

"Huh." Tetra said, uncaring.

"That bird mistook that poor girl for you! That bird has been kidnapping girls all over who have pointy ears. Haven't you heard? And NONE of this would have happened if you big, bad pirates hadn't come to this quiet island." The mailbird went on.

"But... but..." Tetra attempted to come up with an excuse, but nothing came to mind, "Fine. But really, is all you have that flimsy sword? I mean, with all the monsters we fight, you should at least have something to protect yourself with. This puny island has to have something you could use as a shield!"

I remembered back at granny's house, there was an old heirloom, or family crest, or something. I ran over to our house right nearby, and entered. I climbed a tall ladder up to the second floor, but the shield was missing off of the wall...

I climbed back down, and found Grandma standing there, clutching the shield, "Oh, Link. Aryll... she's been kidnapped, hasn't she? And now... you need this shield... and you're going to leave to save her... aren't you? Oh, Link... please take the shield... and don't worry... I know you'll be back... some...d...ay..." At this point she handed me the shield, and began to sob. Shield in hand, I walked out the door, whispering, "Thanks for everything... grandma..."

I walked up to Tetra, and she moaned, "Fine. Let's get going. We shouldn't waste time."

We all filed onto the pirate ship, and everyone assumed their positions and jobs. Tetra and I took our places at the very back, overlooking the islands. I waved goodbye to everyone who had left their houses to say farewell. A gong sounded on the ship, and we began to move. Everyone on the island shouted cheers to us, and I looked over to our house for one last time. I saw Grandma seeing me off, and I waved harder than before.

Don't worry Grandma. I'll get sis back.

For you.

For both of us.

Kansou no Satsuka

Whoo! Chapter 2 is up! I'm so happy! The story is finally up and running! And wow, Touya sure sustained alot of injuries in this chapter. A chunk of wood in the palm, a twisted ankle, and multiple stab wounds! Oh yeah, and you're probably wondering about why Touya would have such a strange dream. No reason, actually, but the dream is actually the first third of an exact same dream I had about a year ago. I swear, I never did know flying was so... liberating. But other than that, I've nothing else to say for this chapter. I'll see you all next time!

-Shojo


	3. The Forsaken Part One

Chapter Three: The Forsaken (Part One)  


"_Don't worry, Grandma. I'll get sis back. For you. For both of us."_

"How long is this gonna go on for? You got an estimate?" I felt the snide comment stab me, and I glanced over at the source, Tetra. She was standing, bored and whimsical, beside me. "I'm not one for emotional moments. It makes me want to punch someone."

"Shut up. At least I have feelings." I responded just as snidely.

"Ooh, big tough guy, aren't you?" She spouted back. "Go downstairs. Niko will need your help. Assuming he does ANY work around here, the lazy idiot." She turned her head out to sea. She sighed quietly, and her eyes turned empty as she stared blankly outwards.

I walked away. She's hiding something, and I know it. Gliding my hands along the (thankfully) smooth, dark-moist wooden boards that surrounded the ship, I made my way to the door underneath the front of the boat, and went inside. The door creaked horribly, and the hinges were rusted to a reddish-orange colour. The door was gonna fall off at any moment.

I plinked down the cold steps, one by one. Across the small room, a large body-guard type pirate was guarding a room. He was the same person I had met after I 'saved' Tetra. He was impossibly huge, and had an air to him that said, "Try to get into this room, and I'll kick your ass." His face, however, was strangely serene.

In the centre of the room, there were more wooden steps that I quickly sped down. There was no way I was about to mess with that guy. 

With my breath billowing out in cold, white puffs (Didn't they have any central heating?), I walked through a doorway at the bottom of the steps. This room, which was larger than the last, was huge. Except for the platform I was standing on, and a similar, smaller one across the room, the entire room was a big hole. In the hole, there were piles of boxes laying everywhere, and lanterns hanging between some of the piles. There were two lit torches on stands and two square buttons on the ground, to my left and right. There was a specially decorated room through the platform on the other side of the room, but there was no way to get there. The walls, floors, boxes, and everything else were made of, of course, wood.

A short, dirty guy about half my height was standing on my platform. He noticed me, and began talking, "'Hoy, swabbie! I am your superior, Niko! Before you're allowed to be a true pirate on this ship, you have to take the exam! WATCH CAREFULLY!" He walked over to the beige square switch in the ground. "You have to push this down first. This is the ONLY easy part!" 

Niko hopped onto the button, and it depressed into the floor. Suddenly, platforms raised spontaneously from the hole in the middle of the room, and Niko pointed it out. "You have to get across this room before the platforms drop by doing THIS!" Niko yelled out as he threw back his body and ran for the ledge. He hopped only barely onto the platform in front of him. It clearly took alot out of him. "Now, see, I did that easily enough, but how am I supposed to get to the next one?" Niko said, looking ahead. There was another ledge ahead of him, but it was twice as far away, and that little guy would kill himself trying to do it. There also happened to be a small lantern hanging low on a rope between the two platforms. Niko demonstrated once again.

He pulled back his body and yelled as he jumped the gap, clinging onto the lantern for dear life halfway through the jump. He swung back and forth on the rope before letting go and throwing himself onto the next ledge. "Do you get it now?" Niko yelled as he whipped through the rest of the course, finally landing before the door. "I bet it'll take you at least one year to do it. One rough year, full of scrapes and falls. Of course..." He continued, secretively, "If you can do it faster, I can give you some treasure..." And with that, Niko walked behind the doorway, and the platforms dropped.

I sighed reluctantly, and walked over to the button to push it down once again. It slid down slowly, rose up slightly, and fell down with a loud clack. The platforms rose.

I looked right at the platform. It wasn't that far away. I've jumped way farther in track and field. I ran for the ledge and shoved my feet off of the ledge, and...!

"Oh, damn."

My face collided with the floor. I had missed completely. I forgot about my stubby legs.

I pulled my weight back up the ladder. I liked my old body better. At least then I was fit and stronger. But then again...

What did I look like back then?

I can barely remember...

All of my memories of back home were rapidly fading.

My house, my mom, my friend... no, my girlfriend... and... even my name...

What was my name? My name here is Link, but that couldn't be it, could it?

It was... Tora, right? No...

Tomo? Wait, that's not it, either...

Ah... Touya! That's it. How could I forget all of the things back at home?

I tried to think of all of the things back home, and keep hold of my memories, but they were fading faster than I could grab them.

"Hey! Swabbie, wake up!"

My eyes widened as my brain processed what was happening.

I was at the end, and Niko was looking at me, trying to figure out why I was standing there.

"I should stop that." I whispered to myself. Why do I keep zoning out like that?

"Stop what?" Niko asked, obnoxiously.

"Ah... nothing. It's nothing..." I said back.

"Oh, okay then." Niko said to me, then continued to himself, "I wonder if it's alright to just give it to him..." Niko began to walk away into the small adjacent room, and came back with a small bag. "A deal's a deal, I guess." He said, handing it to me. The bag was purple, and made of a very... odd fabric. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it wasn't anything I'd seen before. The bag was also decorated very odd... it kept a strange aura.

I was so preoccupied with observing it that Tetra's bellowing voice scared the bloody crap out of me. "LINK! WE'RE HERE! I NEED YOU UP HERE, NOW!"

Oh, god. Please never let this woman lay a hand on me. I hopped out of the room, just as the platforms dropped for the last time. I sped through the hole in the room, up the ladder on the other side, and up to the main deck. The longer it took, the more lives I'd lose at her hand.

Once on the main deck, I saw Tetra on the look-out. I groaned slightly, hoping no one would hear, and climbed up the tall, deep-brown ladder. And climbed.

And climbed.

Finally, I reached the top, and was greeted with a nice, friendly, "What took you so long with Niko? Don't tell me you we're playing some game... for TREASURE, were you?"

I mumbled slightly, "Ah..."

"Oh, whatever." She growled back, "Look over there. That's where we're going. The Forsaken Fortress."

I looked out to sea, and an evil fortress loomed out from the water, evil, seeming, wanting to lash out on the world. The walls were stone fortified, and everything was pitch black. Standing on pillars at several point along the wall were spotlights, pointing outside the walls, scanning the waters, and searching the inside for intruders. At the back-centre stood the central tower, more ominous than the rest. The bastard bird was perched on the top. The defense was spotless, fool-proof, and I had a feeling that if we got anywhere close to that place, something bad could, and would happen.

"How are we supposed to get in there?" I asked, alarmed. The evil that emanated from that place felt like it would grab me, take hold, and take me away from here. Where? I'd rather not know.

"I'm glad you asked! It's really simple!" Tetra said, laughing and unfazed. The next moments were a flurry of movement and voices, as I was dragged down onto the main deck, placed into a barrel, and onto a platform. They were gonna CATAPULT me!

I struggled in my barrel, maybe to possibly drop off of the platform I was on, maybe to get out of the barrel, but it was no use. "Stop struggling." Tetra said, slightly angry, "This is the ONLY way to get in. If we got any closer, they'd bomb our ship all to hell. Don't worry, we're what you call... professionals. Yeah, that's it." Everyone assembled around the catapult, and I waited in mental prep.

"THREE!"

Anger.

"TWO!"

Anxiety.

"ONE!"

Fear.

I could hear the sling released, feel the air whipping past my face, and I could feel my neck, seemingly dislocated from the whiplash.

The solid, dark stone of the Forsaken Fortress came closer, surreal in nature, it's shape contorted by the view. I couldn't tell anymore if it was a dream, but simply let my body fall loose, as my body collided with the central tower.

All feeling in my body was wiped clean, then ultimate pain, as my body tensed up and I fell backwards to the inside of the fortress. _This isn't bad realism, for a video game, I have to say._ My sword shook loose out of it's sheathe in the air, and it fell onto a ledge, forming off of the tower. I could feel the weight ease off my back. The bottom of the fortress grew closer.

My eyes slammed open. I had blacked out on the floor of the fortress, and I stood up slowly, getting lightheaded and ready to collapse again. A voice brought me fully back.

"Oh, shoot! I'm sorry, I guess we missed by a bit." It was Tetra. The voice was coming from my pocket. I slid my hand carefully into my pocket and took out a small pendant that was sitting there. Tetra's face could be seen on the other side of the light-blue stone. "I guess you lost your sword, too, huh? That sucks. You're gonna have to get by without it for the time being." She paused. "By the way, do you like this stone? I slipped it into your pocket right before you... left. Now I can see and hear everything you say and do." She assumed a creepy voice. "Everything."

"Can't you do anything about this? How am I gonna get anywhere without a weapon?" I said calmly, ignoring her comment.

"You're just gonna have to sneak everywhere. There's really no other way out, until you get your sword back."

"Ugh. Fine, I'll do my best." I said, reluctantly. I began to slip the stone back into my pocket.

"Link?"

I took it out quickly. "Yeah?" _...Why did I react to that name?_

"Good luck."

I smiled. "Thanks."

I stood there for several seconds, until Tetra yelled through the stone, still in my hand. "Well, get a move on, you lazy idiot!"

I quickly shoved the stone back into my pocket. I was expecting a dramatic exit, like the stone exploding and leaving a rose in it's place. Oh, well.

I turned towards the tower. The tower now seemed to stand taller than Tokyo Tower itself, and it was quite a bit more ominous. The four spotlights searched all over the area in front of me, and over the tower, including the area my sword was. Monsters searched all of the levels that formed the tower, and barely any light was left in the place to see.

"It's gonna be one hell of a night."

Kansou no Satsuka

Well, welcome back into Touya's world. Sorry about the length of this chapter, it's about half as long as normal, but I decided to just end it here because of both length issues and my extreme desire to actually finish a chapter of something. Blah.

Now that school's out, I should be able to write a little bit more than usual, but don't really count on anything. I have a bad track record.

So anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please, please, please, please, PLEASE review. Reviews make a happy Shojo, in more ways then one... (if ya know what ah mean.)

Sorry. It was called for.

So, until next time...

-Shojo


	4. The Forsaken Part Two

Chapter Four: The Forsaken (Part Two)

_"It's gonna be one hell of a night."_

I looked around at the fortress surrounding me. A feeling of impending doom lingered in the air, filling my heart with doubt.

"I have to get out." I whispered to myself.

"I have to get out."

"I have to get out."

"I have to get out."

Suddenly, a bright light shone down on me, and I could hear an inhuman mumbling. Suddenly, a black ball was tossed at me, and my eyes widened as I lept into the water near me. A bomb. A deafening explosion blasted through the fortress, and I quietly resurfaced. Oh, god. These people were actually out to kill me.

As my reality was captured in my mind, my choice was clear. I had to get through this place and take my sister back.

_Or..._

_Wait..._

_No..._

_No. She isn't my sister._

_She's Aryll._

_She's a video game character._

_She means nothing._

_Nothing at all._

_Nothing...  
_

I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued along. It was no time to play mind games. I had to do this. I ran to the first set of stairs up to the stoney plain and grabbed a barrel. As I tossed it over my head as a disguise, I knew what I had to do. It was time to step up. It was time to save Aryll.

---

The stick thudded one last time into the skull of the spotlight monster. It fell slowly to the ground, exploding into a nuclear-purple mist. I smashed open the pearl left in its place, and revealed the contents: a heart and several ruppees. I collected the ruppees and let the heart heal my wounds, as the spotlight drifted slowly up, soon pointing into the eternal night sky. It was the last one of the spotlights.

The last hours of toiling left me exhausted, and I leaned into the stone wall for support. It had only just begun, but I knew deep inside that this was an adventure that I would never forget, dream or not.

But was this even a dream? I was controlling my every movement, making conscious decisions. It wasn't just a movie rolling before my eyes; this was real. I was fighting real enemies. I had the scars to prove it! Everything felt so real. If this was a dream, I never wanted it to end. It was amazing, every moment brimming with excitement. Much better than a history lecture back at school. This was the true way to live.

I took a deep breath, taking in gulps of fresh breezy air from over the wall. My spirit soared higher than the dark clouds rolling over top of me in the sky. I was alive. I had never lived before I came here.

Dreams never felt so real.

I held a hope in my heart that this was not a dream, and I pushed off, away from the wall, and I continued along through the fortress.

---

My hope still burning deep within my heart, I walked silently along the ledge lining the outer walls of the central watch tower. As I turned a corner and sidled quickly along a section of thin ledging, I ran up the set of stairs directly ahead and turned one final corner.

It was there.

My sword.

As my eyes widened and my legs moved swiftly forward, a set of spikes shot up behind me, trapping me in. A sleeping watch-monster shook his head, and took one ugly look at me before jumping up and running for me, more waddle than a jog. I laughed slightly as the sight, and I knew this would be no problem. The monster right on my tail, I deftly reached for my sword, and instantly swung, with all my strength, at the area behind me. A chilling thunk alerted me as to the sword's whereabouts, and the monster dissolved into a purple mist. A pearl, as always, replaced the monster, but I did not bother to take it. I had other things to deal with.

I ran to the monsterous wooden door that the monster itself was guarding, and I pushed it open with a great shove.

A warm light engulfed me as I entered in from the darkness, and in a strong cage in the corner of the room were several girls, all with pointy ears. I laughed as my mind had a stupid thought (pointy ear fetish?), and I ran to the cage, seeing my sister-- seeing Aryll in an instant.

I was overwhelmed with unreasonable happiness, and I ran towards her. Her face lightened up at the sight of me.

I tried to say something, anything, to convey my happiness to see her again, but no words came out, other than, "I'm back."

That was enough for her, and he instantly pulled me into a hug through the bars that separated us. I couldn't help but feel so close to her, but still separated by a mile. These feelings instantly solidified as I heard a deep rumbling echoing through the tall, empty tower.

A bird.

A big one.

It was back.

A flurry of black feathers filled the room, and I called out to my sister... I called out to Aryll and she yelled back. A tight clench clamped over my body, and a whoosh of air flew past my body as the bird pulled me up and out.

The cold outer air filled my lungs, and I stopped knowing, and caring, for the passage of time. All images became a blur.

_A boat on the top of the fortress._

_A man, in dark clothes._

_He says something._

_I can't make out the words._

_I no longer care._

_The bird nods in a moment's time._

_It spins unbelievably fast, and pitches me through the air._

_And all becomes black._

_--- _

"What is this?"

_A red boat._

_Darkness._

_Water._

_Where am I?_

"No doubt you got in over your head. In you go."

_Pulling._

_I'm out of the water._

_I try to stay awake._

_All becomes darkness again._

_I am not dead._

Kansou no Satsuka

Or: **The insane ramblings of a guy who thinks he can write. In stereo. 'Cause I'm just that cool.**

So, it appears I'm still alive. No joke. Get outta town. I didn't know either, until just now. And yeah, I'm just as insane as ever.

Unless you're new to this whole reading business, or you just forgot you even had this story fav'ed due to the long wait for chapters, this is a fanfic. This means I take liberties. And I can cover it up by saying: "But your honour, this story clearly is altered from the game because Touya's mere existence and appearance in the game changes the whole reality! No joke!" Muhaha.

All things aside, this is a surprisingly short chapter. So sorry. I'm writing this at 2:45 AM. On my Christmas Vacation. Much is to be taken into consideration. Actually, I'm so awake, I might just write the next chapter right now. And that wouldn't be a bad idea, cause the next time I'm this inspired would probably be May, 2007. The saddest part is, with my record, this isn't unlikely.

But all ramblings aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and a REVIEW would be most appreciated. A REVIEW. Only takes up a MINUTE of your time! That's a grand total of 1/1440th of your day.

Pretty, pretty please? Just one review?

Bah, fine. I'll stop bothering you now. But please do. It really lightens up my day to get a nice little comment from someone enjoying my work. But that's always your choice. I can only pester you to murder. I can't actually force you to.

Please?

Okay, so, I'll most definitely see you in the near future.

Until then...

-SHOJO!

(...Please?)


	5. Guidance of the Wind

Chapter Five: Guidance of the Wind

_"I am not dead."_

My head shook quickly, and I drifted back into consciousness. Sitting up, I noticed the change in surroundings.

I was sitting in a red boat, sheltered by a natural cove from the cliff of an island. Light scorched my eyes, and I squinted to see to the ocean. Darkness had been casted out, and day had come.

As I looked around, confused, the boat's head turned towards me and laughed. I jumped back in surprise.

"Ah, you are awake, I see!" The boat said in a boisterous voice, "I'm glad to see that. I was beginning to lose hope. You looked like you were close to death." My confused face led him to laugh once more. "Forgive my manners. I did not introduce myself. I am the King of Red Lions, at your service. The one and only talking ship of all the seas. I believe we have things to discuss."

My eyes widened as the events at the fortress flooded back to me. "M... My sister! Where--?"

"Your sister?" The boat thought for a moment. "Ah, yes. I assume your sister must be involved in the things that landed you in the middle of the ocean, unconscious. Please tell me everything."

I paused, unsure of what to think of the talking red boat, but I soon told him everything, slowly at first, the thoughts pouring from my mouth faster than I could stop them. And I stopped as I reached the ocean.

"I understand. So, you went into the fortress of evil, completely unequipped, with nothing but a sword and shield on your back, and you expected to be able to save your sister from a giant bird, it's strength exponentially higher than yours. And not only that, you also expected to defeat the king of evil, Ganondorf himself, who lives at the top of the fortress." The boat lectured me. "You are a fool. To expect to be able to do that at the stage you are at. Pure idiocy."

I grinded my teeth sliently as my ego was smashed to pieces. I didn't think I was that bad.

"With that aside," The red boat continued, "We have other things to attend to. This is not the time or place to lecture you. If you want to save your sister or anything, we have to get to Dragon Roost Isle. It is the first stop of many."

There was an awkward silence.

"So...?" I said, expecting something to happen.

The boat blushed slightly. "Alas, I cannot go anywhere. I do not have a sail."

I slumped in disbelief. "So, what then? We can't just sit here forever."

The King of Red Lions nodded, "Indeed. That is why I have brought you here. This is Windfall Island. Many merchants come here to sell their inventory. The market is fertile here. I believe you will be able to find a sail. As soon as you have it, come right back here. We don't have time to stop and smell the roses. Your sister needs to be saved, and soon. With all the things we have to do, we can't afford to waste any time. You must go, now. Make haste! We have no time to lose!"

With that, I hurried out of the boat, out of the cove, and into the light of day. Windfall Island greeted me warmly.

I ran up the grassy beach, the sun glistening down through the cloud-drenched sky, and into the rocky island centre. Houses and businesses lined the walls, rife with activity, excited and busy. People chattered, and people yelled out from their stalls, advertising their inventory to the peoples. I ran up to the stall next to the town cafe, and talked to a stubby, parka-wearing man.

"Ah, hello, valued customer! I'm glad to see that you are shopping today. Sadly, I have nothing to sell, except for it. Do you want it? If so, you'll have to give me 80 ruppees for it. It's a great find!" The man blabbered on.

"I'm... I'm not sure..." I muttered, suspicious of the stubby man. He didn't exactly look trustful.

"Oh, please, sir! It's an excellent deal, I assure you! Once-in-a-lifetime chance! It's a steal! Please, don't you want it?" He begged me.

I looked at him suspiciously, "What is it? Let me have a look!"

"OH, SIR! You cannot!" He yelled at me, "You may not see it until you pay for it. Simple economics, you see. So please, won't you take it?"

"I... well... ah, fine." I said with a sigh, handing him every last ruppee in my pocket.

"Ah, very good, sir!" He said, grinning, "So, here. As promised, take it!"

From under the desk, he handed me a decorative piece of cloth.

"What the hell is this?" I said, hinted with anger, as I unfolded it.

It was a sail. Perfect size, great quality. My eyes widened.

"T... thank you!" I said, quickly.

"No problem!" The stubby parka-man said, "Always a pleasure doing business!"

I folded up the cloth quickly and shoved it under my arm, walking hastily into the cafe for a drink before heading back to the boat. I walked up the worn, wooden stairs leading up to the cafe, and I opened the worn door quickly, entering into the musky air of the cafe.

Wandering in, the cafe had a bar and a dining area with two chairs and an extra bar for singles. Only a shaky man sat at a table, and a woman stood at the bar. I decided it would be best to talk to her.

"Oh, look at the little cutie!" She exclaimed, reaching out to pinch my cheeks. I tried my best to resist, but I couldn't realizing my limitations, not to mention stubby arms. "How are you today? Good? That's good! Well, if you want to sit here and have a drink for a minute, we have coffee, juice and beer, but I think you'll just want a cup of juice, won't you? I'll bet your parents are probably looking for you, huh? Well, here, you can have a cup of juice to go. And keep the glass. It'll make a nice keepsake, won't it? Well, you have a good day, now! Well, hurry up and get going! Your parents are probably worried sick about you! Get a move on! Go on! Get! Okay, byebye! Have a good day!"

And before I knew what had just happened, I was out the door with a cup of juice in my hands. I took one quick sip, before realizing it wasn't juice, but badly sweetened water. I gagged, and dumped the contents off of the ledge of the stairs and into the rocky ledge below amid a coughing fit. When I was knocked unconscious and left for dead in the sea... THAT tasted better. I prepared myself to throw the glass down as well, but decided to first examine it. It was a rustic porcelain, with a green insignia. It was pretty. I quickly placed it inside my tunic, and hurried down the stairs, onto the grassy ground, and hurried back to the boat, heading to my left where I had come.

I walked slowly through the grassy field at the end of the island, taking in a deep breath of air, the salty-clean scent of the ocean filling my lungs. I was free from my old, boring life. Back home, at...

_At..._

_Somewhere..._

_Where was it? It's lingering on the back of my mind._

_I feel as if I should know..._

_It is important. I have a feeling. If only I could remember..._

_My old life..._

My old life...

I shook my head. I had things to attend to. I rushed down the beach, and around the bend into the cove. I was greeted by an old talking red boat with a lion head.

"Ah, I see that excitement in your eyes. You've found a sail." The boat said, excitedly.

I nodded happily, jumping into the boat, trying not to get my feet wet from the water. I attached the sail to the floor of the King of Red Lions, and he sighed a sigh of relief. "It's good to have a sail again, I assume?" I said to him.

He only nodded, a bit embarrassed, and then continued stately, "Alright, so, our next destination is Dragon Roost Isle. This is the first stop if you want to be prepared to save your sister."

I smiled, nodded, and the King of Red Lions floated slowly out of the cove. The sail wide, the wind pulled us quickly to the east. In the far off distance, I saw nothing but cold blue sea water. I knew in my heart that this was an adventure that was meant to happen to me, and the future was bright.

This truly was the guidance of the winds.

Kansou no Satsuka

Or: **The very tired ramblings of a sleep-deprived writer-type guy at 4:25 in the morning. Guh.**

Okay, so as it turns out, I decided to sacrifice sleep for this extremely rare roll I'm on. Two short chapters completed from scratch in one late-night writing-binge with the help of Random Energy(tm) and Instrumental Music on Constant Manual Loop(kindatm).

Boy, am I tired. Gwah. Sleepy time is now, cause I need it badly. I'm sorry. I really do need it.

Oh, before I go, time for actual meaningful notes on this chapter. Cause you probably don't really care.

Okay, I KNOW I stretched Windfall Island a bit. It's not exactly bustling, but honestly, it really should be. It's the merchanting capital of the Great Sea. You'd think it would be bustling. But anyways, sorry about that. See last chapter's notes for cover-up (hehehe).

Okay, and I also know that the girl who runs the cafe in Windfall is NOT as crazy as I make her out to be, but it really was the only way I could give this chapter some substance, especially Touya's visit to the cafe. There wasn't any other way to really make it interesting. Half the female characters I make are insane, anyways, so why not tip the scales a little bit more?

And I'm sorry for the super short chapters. It's unlike me, but honestly, it's better than nothing, huh? I'm in a writing slump. This is what I needed.

So yeah. REVIEW! ...Please?

I'm terrible, I know. I'm so sorry. I just really like reviews. I'm a review-whore.

(holds up sign) --WILL CYBER FOR REVIEW--

(cough)

You didn't see that.

So, yeah. Before tiredness makes me anymore insane and illogical than I already am, I'm heading off to bed.

Good night. Happy holidays!

-SHOJO!


	6. Dragon Roost

Chapter Six: Dragon Roost

_"This truly was the guidance of the winds."_

The waters lashed smoothly against the King of Red Lions' side, as Dragon Roost Isle grew larger in the horizon.

The island itself was no more than a single narrow mountain, with only a slight bit of actual land to be seen. At the top of the mountain, dark clouds slowly circled the peak, evil and ominous. A chill went down my spine as my eyes stared into it, listening to the mighty roars of pain coming from the guardian spirit at the top. I blinked, and moved my attention downwards. It was no time to obsess over evil things.

As the boat and I approached the island, and got closer, eventually docking, something seemed wrong. There was something lurking on the island, and I was sure it had something to do with the clouds on top of the mountain. Someone else needed help, and I knew that I was probably going to end up staying longer on this island than the King of Red Lions thought I would. Things are never as easy as people make them out to be.

"Link..." The King of Red Lions said to me, snapping me out of my train of thought. "Welcome to Dragon Roost Isle. This is the place where all Rito live, the bird-people of the sea. You must go and ask their guardian dragon, the spirit of the skies, Valoo, for the Din's Pearl. We need this to continue along. Come back here as soon as you have found it."

I nodded, and began to walk away, slowly, when I was interrupted once more by the boat, "One more thing. Please take this. It is the Wind Waker."

In the mouth of the boat was a stylish, silver baton. I took it, and all at once, I felt it's power fill inside me.

The boat spoke wistfully, "This baton has ancient powers. It was used long ago in prayer to the gods, and some even say that its use allows you to borrow some of their power. I'm not sure if it even still works, but please take it. It might come in handy in the future."

I pocketed the baton, and hurried up the treacherous mountain path. I had no time to lose. My sister needed to be rescued.

As I climbed up path after path, I quickly swore enough to make grandma faint. I eventually came upon a bright wooden veranda, leading into a cave.

"About time." I muttered to myself, spitefully tired. I walked up, quietly, into the dark cave.

As I entered the cave, I entered into a giant postbox. The room was two stories high, and was purely carved from the mountain. A ramp led up to the second floor, and several doors led to other parts of the postbox. The Rito flew around hurriedly, mailbags slung over their shoulders, and one stood behind a desk on the second floor, sorting mail quickly into slots. As I looked around like a country bumpkin in the big city, a group of Rito in the middle of the room glanced over at me in the middle of their conversation. One of them appeared to be the Rito chieftain, another, Quill, the mailman from our island.

Quill spun around on his claws, and was pleasantly surprised to see me. "Link? Link, is that you?" He said with growing excitement. "How are you? I haven't seen you since Outset Island! And your sister, is she...?"

I looked away in silence, and began to tell him my story of what happened after he left Outset, slowly at first, growing faster, until the events poured from his mouth so fast he could no longer tell if what he said was right.

"I... see." Quill said, mentally condemning himself for mentioning it. "Don't worry about it. Aryll is a good, strong girl. I'm sure she'll be fine, no matter what those monsters at the fortress have in store for her." He smiled helpfully, until the chieftain caught his eye, and he continued on. "Oh, yes! Link, I want you to meet the Rito chieftain. He is the man in charge of us on this island, and I believe he is the person you are looking for." Quill handed the floor over to the Rito cheiftain, and the chieftain cleared his throat, stepping forward.

"Welcome to Dragon Roost Island, Link." The chieftain said. He spoke with a booming, deep voice that demanded authority. The chieftain was extremely young for his position, not a day over 35, and, although fierce, emanated a sort of kindness to all around him. He was clearly an enjoyable person. "I would like you say to you that all of us Rito are extremely proud of you, and we would be willing to help you in any way possible if it were needed. I, myself, can almost see my youthfulness in you. Ah, to be young again..." The chieftain trailed off, then snapped back into reality, realizing what he was saying. "What am I saying? I'm still young! Just because I'm not a child doesn't mean that I don't have my youth in me..." The chieftain trailed off again, mumbling angrily to himself. After several moment, an exasperated Rito next to him whispered into his ear, and the chieftain was pulled back into the situation at hand. "Ah, yes, yes. Sorry. As I was saying, we would be willing to help you in anyway possible if it was needed." The chieftain paused, soon re-realizing the situation he had been dealing with before Link had arrived. "...Of course, us Rito have our own predicament to solve at the moment. As you no doubt heard approaching the island, our guardian dragon, Valoo, was roaring angrily, spewing fire all around. This is no doubt connected to the sudden outbreak of monsters in the cavern in the top of the mountain. Valoo's tail hangs into the cavern from above, and there's no doubt in my mind that the monsters are attacking his tail. Because of this, my son, Komali, also the Rito prince, is unable to approach Valoo to recieve his wings. He is now locked away in his room, scared to leave, and will not listen to a word I say. To top this off, since then, the hot spring that leads to the entrance has completely dried up, making it impossible to enter into the cavern. If we cannot enter the cavern, and we cannot fix this problem, all of our offspring shall not be able to aquire wings, and our way of life will become extinct. Hence why this problem is so important. As the chieftain of the Rito tribe, it is my full responsibility to attend to this issue before all others. I'm so sorry, but this is the way it is. I hope you are okay with waiting for help until we can fix this issue."

I nodded slightly, exhausted by the long-winded explanation. I thought I had problems, but it seems that these people had it so much worse than me.

Quill soon had an idea, and spoke quickly. "Chieftain, what if Link went to speak with Prince Komali in person? Link is such a young, brave lad. Surely Komali would open up to him."

The chieftain thought for a moment, realizing the potential of the concept. "Let me direct..." He said, somewhat embarrassed. "Komali has fully given up on getting his wings. Will you speak with him, and hopefully, share some of your courage with him? Also, if possible, I want you to give him something from me. I believe a young girl named Medli is holding onto it. Could you do this for me?"

I agreed happily. Better to do something than nothing at all. In a quick flurry of movement, the Ritos were called away, and I was handed a gift mail bag from Quill as all of the Rito flew away quickly, and I was left alone, standing in the room alone.

I shrugged as I looked around the room, completely unsure of what to do next. I soon hurried up the stone ramp that led to the upper floor, and into a nearby room. A young Rito girl stood there before me. She smiled as I walked in the room.

"He he! What strange green clothes you're wearing! You must be Link. Pardon my manners. The chieftain told me you would be coming to see me. I am Medli, the great Rito attendant to Valoo... Or, well, I suppose not yet. I'm actually still studying to be one. But I'm sure some day..." She wandered off into another land, and I could only stare at her for several moments.

"Umm..." I muttered, softly.

"Huh?" She said, returning. She didn't realize anything was wrong, and only looked at me. "Oh, right. The letter." She pulled a small letter out from the bag slung over her shoulder, and handed it to me. I assumed it was adressed to Prince Komali; the writing was completely illegible. I snickered under my breath as I imagined a bird trying to hold a pencil, and I put the letter into my bag. "Prince Komali's door is downstairs, first one to the right of the entrance. Drop off the letter right away. 'Kay?" She smiled at me, maybe a bit romantically, and left me on my way.

As I had one foot out the door, I heard Medli say my name, and I quickly turned back around. She seemed embarrassed to stop me again, and meekly asked me to meet her at the entrance of the Dragon Roost Cavern later. It was important. I nodded and hurried along, down to the lower floor, and into Prince Komali's room.

I walked into the room, expecting to see a dashing prince, at least 16, and instead walked in upon a young boy, cradling a red jewel in his arms.

_Still a child_, I thought. And as I looked down upon my stubbiness, only one thing crossed my mind: _...like me._

"Who are you? You're obviously not from around here..." Prince Komali muttered: angry, spiteful, childish.

"I've got a delivery." I said happily, trying to ignore the prince's less-than-optimistic manner. I handed him the letter with a grin plastered onto my face.

"Calm down. It's not like I need anyone to be happy to see me." He said, opening the letter. He read only one line, and then threw the letter to the side, spitting on it. He couldn't be more angry at his father. He saw me gawking at him, and shifted his anger towards me, "What the hell do you think you're looking at? Never seen someone get angry? My dad sent you didn't he? That coward. Sure, it's easy to tell me to be brave, but did he have to go the experience I had? Did he have to go through what I'm going through? And now he can't even look at me... What? Are you saying you can face Valoo like he is now? Oh, sure, keep it up. If you can find someone who can get through the dungeon like it is now, and calm down Valoo, I'll do anything you say." His voice was less angry, instead filling up with anguish, the tears of a misunderstood child in pain. I had to help him. I looked at the jewel in his arms. It was red, holding power, maybe even the fire of the gods. I knew instantly it was the Din's Pearl that the King of Red Lions had wanted me to find. I knew there was no chance of getting it from him in his current state, and so, instead, I walked out of Komali's room, and to the entrance of the Dragon Roost Cavern I had heard so much about, to meet Medli.

As I walked to the sunny doorway, opposite the entrance I had come through only 10 minutes before, I felt hot, dry air fill my lungs. I took several gasps for air before I adjusted, instead slowly becoming dehydrated. I walked into the outdoors, and felt the sun condensing into the small area before me. The wind blew unpredictably, and the dead plants floating on the winds showed just how random the air patterns had become. There were two ledges, separated by a 20 ft valley. The remanants of a broken bridge that once connected the ledges glued themselves to the valley walls, and a boulder on the valley floor blocked a hot spring. All entrances to the cavern had been destroyed. The place revealed no green; all that surrounded me was rock. Dead, cold rock.

_It's dying_, I thought. _This mountain is dying._

I wandered the ledge I was standing on, and saw Medli standing on the valley floor. I hopped carefully into the valley, and Medli's eyes glimmered as she saw me.

"Oh, wow, you actually came!" She squeeled, happily. "I'm sorry for dragging you to such a dangerous area, but I needed your help. You see that boulder over there? This place used to be a beautiful pond, peaceful and lovely, but now that Valoo's become enraged, he knocked a boulder from the top of the mountain in his anger, and... As you can see, things just sort of went from there. But don't mind me. How is Prince Komali?" She asked, innocently.

I explained the events. She listened, and seemed unsurprised by how he had acted.

"I... see. He hasn't changed at all since he began acting like this. I suppose I'm partially to blame for what happened. If I had only been a better attendant than I am, then maybe..." She trailed off, and didn't say anything for several minutes. I decided that what ever had happened, it was probably best not to ask. Soon enough, Medli continued, "Oh, I'm... I'm sorry. I just, it's complicated. I wish I could only express to you what happened, but I think it's best if you don't know. But as it stands, I haven't told you what I needed you for, yet. Well, I need to go to the top of the mountain to calm the great Valoo down. But I can't reach the ledge all by my self... do you think you could help me? Just lift me up, then throw me at the ledge when the winds are heading that way. I'll take it from there. Okay?"

I nodded, and Medli rolled up into a ball.

_She's kinda cute. If only she were a little less serious_, I thought, picking up the medliball. _After all, it's not like I have a girlfriend or anything..._

A pain pricked in the back of my head, and I quickly set Medli down. The pain multiplied, doubled, tripled, more and more, until the pain was unbearable. _Oh, god! Oh, god! What's happening?!_

Medli came over to help me, but her voice was drowned out by the ringing that had now attacked my ears, getting worse and worse. Oh, the pain!

Suddenly, all became darkness. I found myself standing in a field of nothingness.

**A rustling.**

_Where am I?_

_Hello?_

_WHERE AM I?!_

**Another noise.**

_What's going on?_

_Who's there?!_

**"Touya."**

_Who's there?!_

_Who are you?_

_What do you want?_

**"Hello, Touya."**

_Who are you?_

_Who's Touya?_

_What's going on?_

**"Touya, remember who you are?"**

_Stop playing games!_

_Who are you?!_

**"I'm Harya."**

_What? What do you mean?_

_Who's Harya? What are you talking about?_

**"Do you remember me, Touya?"**

_No, who are you?_

_What do you want?_

**"Do you remember yourself, Touya?"**

_What do you mean, already?_

_And who's Touya?_

**"Remember yourself, Touya. You don't have much time left here."**

_What do you mean?_

_WAIT!_

"Link!"

Medli's voice returned me to reality. She was bent over me, as I lay on the rock of the valley floor. Cold sweats covered my body.

"What happened? You just collapsed all of a sudden. Are you alright?" Medli's worried voice almost reminded me of grandma back on Outset.

"I'm fine. How long was I out for?"

"About 5 minutes. What happened?"

"I wish I knew, Medli. I wish I knew." The events that played in my mind confused me. Then, almost out of nowhere, I said, "A woman's voice."

"What?"

"It was a young woman."

Medli made no attempt of making sense of what I was saying, and instead rolled back into a ball. A muffled hurry came from the ball, and in almost no time, I tossed her through the air, and her wings unfurled. She flew upwards, the winds guiding and pushing her through the air, until she landed upon the ledge leading to the cavern.

"Thank you so much!" She yelled from the top of the ledge. "I'll try and hurry to Valoo and calm him down. Just... if anything happens to me, please take care of Prince Komali. He's a great boy, you just needed to know him before all this happened. And, I know it's not much, but please take this as thanks!" She tossed a glass bottle down from the ledge into my hands, and hurried into the cavern.

I stood in silence, unmoving, except to adjust my body against the increasingly violent winds. Finally, I moved over to the boulder, and pushed on it with all my strength, seeing it as my only way to help at that moment. The boulder did not move, and instead, settled in more to the spring it was clogging. I groaned, and took a bottleful of what water was available. Climbing up the bridge remnants back onto the ledge I had come from, I noticed a dry, withered bomb plant on the ground. I was confused by the concept of a bomb plant, but decided not to doubt it based on all the things I had seen in this world. Walking over to it, I still saw signs of life lying deep in the plant, and poured my bottle of water on it.

Instantly, the bomb plant flourished and turned to life. I approached it carefully, and pulled the bomb from the plant. The fuse on the bomb began to burn, and almost instinctively, I threw the bomb into the valley, and hid. A deafening boom and the cracking of rock caused me to creep over to the ledge and see what had happened.

The boulder was left to dust, and the spring burst to life, filling the valley with ease. The water slowed, and soon, stopped, and the valley was filled. I looked across to the other side, seeing the entrance to the Dragon Roost Cavern, and a sharp pain hit my chest. Something was trying to tell me that Medli needed help. Without a moment of hesitation, I jumped into the spring, soaking my clothes, and everything else on me. Just as fast, I was at the other ledge, and in front of the entrance to Dragon Roost Cavern. The heat blasting from the door alone dried my clothes, and I stared into the dark cavern.

My mind jumped back to the words that woman had said to me. I walked into the cavern, bewildered by the word 'Touya', and confused as to who he might be.

Kansou no Satsuka

**Or: The author is tired, so you get to make up your own subtitle. Enjoy.**

Well, Chapter 6 is up. I suppose I got inspiration again BEFORE May, which surprises me.

So welcome back to the story. And enjoy. I actually don't have a whole lot to say. It's not 4:30 in the morning, so I'm not as insane as before. Which sucks. I like being insane. It makes for good author comments.

But yeah. I hope you are still following along with the story and haven't given up yet. But then again, if you're reading this, I suppose that means you haven't given up, huh? Good for you. Now review, dammit.

Yeah, I'm Shojo, and I'm filled with just as much review-begging suggary goodness as ever before. Now with aspartame. So you get more sweetness, with a really bad aftertaste and side effects that some like but most hate. OHH, yeah.

But seriously, though. Welcome back to the story, and to the first "full-length" chapter in about 6-7 months. I hope you liked, and if you did, make sure to tell me so. If you didn't, well, in the words of Max Bialystock, "Keep your big mouth shut."

Or not. That's really up to you. But yeah.

See you all in the future, hopefully!

Until then,

-SHOJO!


	7. Valoo

Chapter Seven: Valoo

**Omg. Violence.**

_"I walked into the cavern, bewildered by the word 'Touya', and confused as to who he might be."_

I was forced to pause, and let my eyes adjust.

Total darkness surrounded me.

Noises sounded in the distance: slithering, sneaking, searching.

My eyes had adjusted, and I saw the room before me. An old and forgotten entranceway. Hot stone stairs led up to three small blocks with figures on the top, like guardians. I pushed two out of the way, and a doorway stood behind it.

Another room. This time, a pit of sorts. Pathways lowered to the floor, and later, back up to the next door. Two monsters stood in my way. They were guards, and looked like pigs on two legs. They each held a wooden stick.

They shouted a shrieking noise as I stepped in. It pierced into my ears and I ran towards them to attack.

The first monster swung his weapon, and I jumped over him, swinging my sword back around. A squishing noise echoed as the sword collided with the monster's side, and I felt an object collide with the side of my head. I fell down, and rolled over quickly, to avoid a stab from one of the creatures.

Scrambling to my feet as fast as I could with sword in hand, I moved away, and the monsters slowly advanced. Blood seeped from the first monster's wound, and I wondered at how he stayed standing.

The second monster swung. I ducked as fast as I could, and jutted my sword out, stabbing the monster, and then slamming down on the protruding handle. The sword sliced through the monster and flew out, narrowly missing me. I ran to grab it as the monster exploded into a puff of smoke.

My eye turned onto the first monster. It was barely alive, and I could tell. The monster swung at me, and I ducked again, only to have it collide with my side. I fell onto the floor on my back, and the monster's weapon stabbed into my right arm. I screamed out, as sensations filled my arm, most of all, pain. I grabbed the stick with my left arm, and pulled it out, shoving the monster away in the process. It fell back, and I grabbed the sword back with my left hand. I bounded over to the monster, and it almost seemed to beg for mercy as my sword fell into it's neck. A poof of smoke commenced, and I stood up. My sword was bloody, and my tunic, dusty. I cleaned off both, and walked through the door at the end of the room, lighting a torch or two on my way with the dead monster's stick to unlock it.

As I entered the hallway behind the door, another blast of heat, exponentially worse than before, was pushed into my face, and I stopped for just a moment. I could hardly breathe the air, and it seemed to clog in my throat. All of the heat was unbearable, and I unfastened and rolled down the top of my tunic to help. Any armour I had before was gone, and I risked that, knowing only that any more heat would kill me.

I quickly broke open a vase nearby, and, taking the heart inside and becoming enveloped in it's healing, entered into the room at the end of the hallway, behind a wall of brittle wood planks.

The room was the inside of a volcano. Fire and lava bubbled angrily far below, and the walls were lined with paths and walkways, jutting out of the wall. Bridges stretched across the volcano's length, and pillars of fire exploded periodically.

I silently spoke a prayer and continued on my way through hell.

---

Cuts and bruises covered my exposed skin as I hurried through a heavy stone door, out of the hot and heavy darkness and out to the cool and bright air of the outside.

The sun burned into my eyes, and I shut them instantly. A deep roar pounded into my ears, and repeated again and again. My mind was overwhelmed. As soon as I could see, I unfurled my tunic, and put it back on, and hurried along the jutting pathway that spiralled up the tip of the mountain.

As I reached a set of fashioned stairs in the rock, I paused, cautious. As I approached them, a gust of wind threw off my balance, and I was pitched off of the path, gripping tightly onto the edge. My fingers held tightly, but continued to slip. My already small body felt like thousands of pounds.

My fingers slipped again, and I was hanging on by the tips. I strained to hold on, until, finally...

I fell. At the last moment, I concentrated my strength into a single shove, and propelled my upper body onto the path, and dragged the rest of my body up. I could only roll onto my back and rest. I lied on the rocky, dust-ridden path for several moments, only breathing heavily, until I had found my strength again, and stood up shakily.

I approached the stairs again, this time less hesitant, and went. They were sturdy, and I was fine for 20 steps.

The 21st step gave out. I jumped back, as the stone block fell down to the ocean below, and I got on my hands and knees to watch through the opening, and stood back up when I was satisfied. I had to get through here.

I backed up several steps, gained confidence, and ran. I hopped over the missing step and bolted up the remaining stairs, and they each fell right behind me, almost as soon as I placed my foot on them.

Before I knew it, I reached the top of the stairs, and I had reached the tip of the mountain. To my right was almost a cage, tall stone walls lining the area before and around what I had come for. Valoo, the red dragon, sat before me. Every few moments, he wound shift slightly, then give a roar of pain, squirming around in his seat, only wanting it to end. Under Valoo's seat was a small cage.

In it, stood Medli.

The two monsters guarding the cage perked up as they saw me, and I ran into the area near the cage.

The opening behind me closed tight with a gate. I was trapped.

Medli called out to me for help, but I did not listen. I had to concentrate on the monsters. Almost like robots, they shuffled towards me, carefully, holding sharpened sticks in their hands. I readied my sword, and took a stance in the centre of the ring. The monsters stared me down, waiting for me to move. I did not.

Finally, impatience got the better of one monster, and he ran towards me.

I jumped, as his stick lunged towards me, and my sword came down upon his head. It clanged against his makeshift helmet, and the ricochet sent me off balance, onto the floor. I cringed in pain as the stick stabbed into my calf.

I swung the sword up, as the monster stood, defenseless, and hoped to hit something.

With a snap, the weapon smashed into splinters, and scattered among the floor. The monster stupidly jumped to the floor to pick up the larger splinters, and I took the opportunity to attack.

Before quickly receiving a blow to the kneecap from the other monster. I fell helpless to the floor. The other monster quickly approached me, and I put my strength into my arms.

In one fluid move, I propelled myself forward on the floor, under the monster's legs, stabbing him in the chest, and continuing the slice through to his backside. Pushing myself off of him, I spun on my back with my sword extended, colliding with the first monster's legs. With two purple blasts of smoke, I had won. I stood up slowly, and limped over to the cage Medli was in.

She began to cheer as I approached her, "Link! Link, you did it! You made it! Thank you--"

She stopped.

I turned around.

With a squak, a bird carried in another monster. Bigger, stronger than the other ones. It held a gleaming, sharpened spear in its hand.

I gulped quietly, and waited for it to arrive.

The monster dropped to the floor with a loud thump, and a shake echoed through the floor. It screamed a animal-like noise at me, and I was instilled with fear. It instantly began charging for me.

As I stood in shock, the monster continued to charge as me, and I only backed closer to the cage behind me. As I felt the bamboo-like bars, I felt my heart race. The monster approached.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

I felt a shove.

Darkness.

Noise.

Fear.

Emptiness.

I saw the battle occuring, but...

My soul floated over top...

The monster was being defeated so easily...

I was defeating the monster so easily.

It was like my body was taken over by someone better.

Someone stronger.

Pain.

Pain.

"Agh!" I yelled, as I returned to my body. A quiet, purple jewel lay nearby, and my entire body, tunic and all, was dirty, scraped, cut, and damaged. I stood up, and walked over to Medli.

Feeling down at my calf, I could feel no gash or cut from the battle earlier.

What was going on?!

"What... happened?" Medli asked. She stood in amazement, staring at me, as if I wasn't myself.

"I don't know! Didn't you see?" I said to her, more confused than ever.

"Well, yeah, but..." She trailed off, and suddenly, both the gate I had entered through, and the cage Medli was in, opened. She ran out, almost as if she were starved for air and space. She smiled at me, attempting to change topics from what had happened. "Thank you for helping me. I got this far, but then I was attacked by those ugly monsters. They threw me in here. Look, there's a monster in the room below here. The great Valoo's tail hangs into that room, and that creature is putting the great Valoo in terrible pain. We need to go help him!" She handed me a small, silver hand attached to a rope. "Here, take this. It's a grappling hook. It's what all Ritos used to get around before we developed wings. Please, use it to help the great Valoo. I'll go down and tell everyone what's happening. Quick! Make haste!"

With that, I hurried away, as did Medli. Through the exit near the cage, I swung my way down to a second stone door, and reopened the way into hell.

---

As I swung over a stream of lava, and ran up a short flight of stairs, I found myself before the door into the monster's room. The door was in the mouth of a stone serpent, infinitely vicious, and the door itself had a single keyhole, in the middle of a golden monster eye. I jammed the key into it, and the eye span, receding into the door, and the door raised. I ran in quickly, without hesitation, and the door slammed shut behind me. As I tried to open it, it did not move. A great design was chiseled into the door, the image of a dragon. I wondered at it for only a moment.

That was all I was allowed.

A great rumbling shook the floor, and possibly the entire mountain, and I turned around.

There, emerging from a pool of lava in the centre of the room, stood a monsterous lobster-like creature, red from the heat, and angry from the disturbance. It screeched out at me, and its giant claws flailed around in rage.

I glanced up. Hanging from the celing was Valoo's tail. It had a hook on the end of it, and the chunk of rock it hanged through looked somewhat disconnected from the rest of the roof. Maybe...

The monster's giant claws slammed down on me. I was crushed into the floor in an instant, and was pinned there. The monster made an eerie screeching noise as it tried to pull its hot claws from the rock.

As soon as it did, I quickly stood up, finding as much strength as I could. I pulled out my grappling hook, and aimed up at Valoo's tail.

The crab monster readied for another attack.

I aimed carefully...

And shot. I was pulled up, the monster's claw just grazing my leg on the way. It singed my clothes, and burnt into my skin. I clenched my teeth slightly as I swung across the length of the room. As I reached the other side of the room, the grappling hook retracted, and I fell to the path on the other side of the lava pool. I felt another shake, and a loud roar. Valoo was in pain, and his tail began shaking as if it were on fire. Suddenly, it stopped, and the disconnected plate of rock around his tail fell from the celing, and crushed into the monster's head.

His armour...

...cracked.

It fell into the pool of lava for just a moment, until bursting up, and shoving the rock back onto the celing.

A plan had arisen.

I did this same this again, and again, until finally...

The armour broke off.

The monster writhed and squirmed back and forth, more enraged than ever before. Its claws slammed down on both sides of me, trapping me, The monster's head bent forward, and its one bulging eye stared me down. I took my sword in hand.

I slashed. Cut. Stabbed. Everything I could think of to attack this enemy.

Finally, the monster stood erect. It began to screech, flail. Everything it could do to express its pain, it did.

And, slowly...

The monster turned red, and disappeared in a burst of red smoke and flame.

It was defeated.

I placed my sword into its sheathe, and wiped the beads of sweat that steadily fell from my head.They were lukewarm, but in this place, they felt cool.

Slowly, a breeze began in the room, gaining speed and cooling off the room. The pool of lava crusted over.

In the centre of it, a floor tornado of wind blew in a cycle. It called me to it.

I carefully walked onto the lava crust, and it was almost cold. As I approached, the wind, I heard a voice.

"Touya!"

I looked around, and no one could be found. I was alone.

I stepped into the wind, and a gust suddenly blew upwards, and I felt myself dissolving into it, a steady collage of colours melting past.

---

As my body resolved on the shore I had begun at on the island, I could hear Valoo calling out his thanks and praise to me in the distance. "O Hero, thank you! O Hero!"

I heard a giggle nearby, and I turned to the source. Medli approached me with Prince Komali by her side. She called out my name, and hurried closer. "Well, Prince Komali," she said as she was finally next to me, "don't you have something to say?"

Prince Komali, embarassed, stepped closer, and began to speak, with a newfound courage I hadn't heard in him before, "Link, I'm happy and proud of what you did for all of us. I hope that when I grow up, I can be as mature and courageous as you. So, here."

Prince Komali held out his Din's Pearl, which he had still cradled in his arms.

"I want you to have this. By giving you the thing I treasure most, maybe I can finally stand up to whatever stands in my way!" Komali finished. I took the pearl in my hands. It glowed softly with an orange tinge, and it felt warm in my arms, as if keeping me safe.

"I'm sure you can do whatever you can think of, if you put your mind to it, Prince Komali!" Medli said to him happily. "Don't you think so, Link?"

I looked at her, then smiled, "I'm sure he can."

Komali's face grew wide with the biggest grin he could muster, then he started to run away, as if to get training as soon as possible.

"Prince Komali--" Medli yelled after him. She stopped to look at me, smiling, and then chased after the young Rito. I watched them off, and saw, if only for a moment, a younger version of myself--

I twinge of pain struck in my head, and I chose not to ponder it afterall. The King of Red Lions waited patiently on the shore for me, and I ran up to him, climbing aboard.

Without saying a word, we sailed south, towards the Forest Haven. And in the distance behind us as we sailed, it wasn't long until Dragon Roost Island was only a memory.

Kansou no Satsuka: The Author's Insanity, Now In Word Form!

So, chapter seven down and out. Actually turned out very well. I wasn't sure how the dungeons would be handled, personally. And the Forbidden Fortress was kind of iffy.

So, anywho, here we are. You've made it this far. Congrats. Please don't quit now. You've put up with my procrastination, random updates, and general bad writing thus far; why give in now?

In any case, random inspiration forced me to write this. Started yesterday, finished today. And it's good, cause I hate it when I leave a story untouched for a good month or two, and there it is, ready to be continued, easy to pick back up, and I just let it sit there. It's annoying, not only for you, I'm sure, but for me. I try my best to keep my stories alive, and fun, and then, whoomf, they're dead, cause I don't update.

Yeah, I have a bad habit for that.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are appreciated like you wouldn't believe. Of course, not those ones that are like "THIS STORY SUXTHIS STORY SUXTHIS STORY SUX", and so on, thanks to the amazing wonders of copy-and-paste, but the reviews that people write and take time out of their day, just to tell me they liked my story, and perhaps, even how to improve on it.

So yeah. In summary, chapter good, review nice, thanks for coming out.

-Shojo!


	8. Ocean Forest

Chapter Eight: Ocean Forest

_"Without saying a word, we sailed south, towards the Forest Haven. And in the distance behind us as we sailed, it wasn't long until Dragon Roost Island was only a memory."_

Another splash of water across my face, and the breeze chilled me to the bone further than it already had.

The sun had long since been resting, and the night was cold and unfeeling to me. The boat rocked to and fro, again and again, wanting but never finding stability in the cold, deep-turquoise water. My stomach churned and grumbled from the torture. Fighting monsters without a bite to eat was hard.

The King of Red Lions attempted over and over to make conversation with me, but it never lasted more than a moment. I was lost in my thoughts. Who was this Touya? It sounded like a boy's name, but certainly not my own.

_Of course it's not. _

_I am Link._

_Or am I?_

_Do I only think that because it's what everyone calls me?_

_What about Touya?_

_It sounds familiar, strange, close to me. Like I've heard it many times before, but not recently._

_Like I've forgotten it._

_Did it used to be..._

_...me?_

A thick and hot pain shot through my skull, and emanated through my head. I stopped. It was at that point that names no longer mattered. There was a time to think, and I let it go by. Right then, it was a time for action. And I had already had just about enough of that as it was.

Without further ado, a pair of islands grew on the horizon, one, an ominous forest, the other, a lone, hollow tree trunk, shaped like the base of a mountain. The King of Red Lions mentioned something to me, but I didn't listen. It was probably about the fact that there was an island approaching. I hadn't noticed.

We approached the island, and, as we neared to disembark, something seemed strange about the island. We stopped at the tree trunk island, as the other one was impossible to enter from the sea, but at closer observation, the tree trunk seemed about as ominous and corrupted as the other island. We docked, and I hopped onto dry land. The tension in my body from the sea relaxed.

"This is the Forest Haven," the King of Red Lions said, nonchalantly, "The Great Deku Tree should live on this island. Go in and request the Fayore's Pearl of him. Once you have it, come back at once. We have no time to lose!"

With that, the boat shooed me off, and I turned to the island. I stood on a stretch of land connecting to the south of the island. I couldn't see the entrance from where I stood. All I could see was the incline before me, random monsters, then a swing over a small waterfall.

Piece of cake.

---

I walked from a flowing river into an opening in the tree trunk's side. I could not believe my eyes.

Before me, I saw a monsterous tree, surrounded by quiet, unperturbed nature. Green glistening bursts of light floated through the air, and there was a gentle peace in the thick of it all. The river itself, which flowed outside and I had felt before, somehow felt cooler and less harsh.

Almost as if time had slowed for me.

I walked up the sporatic stairs that circled the Great Deku Tree, until I came face to face with him. The tree's front side had a face, exaggerated and drooped from the steady decay and onslaught of age. I opened my mouth eagerly to speak with him, hoping he would speak back, until...

A green blob.

A red one.

More.

Disturbing blob monsters began appearing on the Great Deku Tree's face, making foreign noises, like disgusting parasites. There was one, then two, multiplying into dozens.

The Great Deku Tree slowly awoke, moaning and groaning. He was in pain.

I reacted as fast as I could, sprinting forward and slamming my left shoulder into the trunk of the Great Deku Tree.

A slow vibration shook through the tree, a rustling noise rattled quietly through the high branches, and the blob monsters fell from their place on the Great Deku Tree.

Instantly, their beady eyes turned on me. I readied my sword.

Two or three monsters made an alien noise, and jumped towards me. Quickly, I slashed my sword forward.

One monster was sliced in half, like gelatin, and the other two fell on me.

My body was jolted into the floor, and I shook violently as volts shot through my body and electrified my nerves.

I lied on the ground for several moments before realizing even what had just occurred, and a burning scent filled my nose.

In a strange normality, I stood up, and readied my sword again. As a handful of the monsters made a noise, I whipped my sword around in a circle. I stabbed, slashed, sliced, everything I could. Pain shot through my body again and again, but I ignored it.

All that surrounded me soon was a billowing cloud of purple smoke, and remnants of a horde of slimy blobs.

"Oh," I said, "It's over."

Then I collapsed.

---

When I woke, I found myself lying on a giant lily pad. As I looked to my left, I saw the Great Deku Tree before me, nearly screaming at the sight. As I took in my surroundings, alarmed, I slowly calmed and remembered what had occurred. I swallowed my fear and stood up.

"You are awake, I see," the Great Deku Tree bellowed, "You must already know me. I am the Great Deku Tree. I live and thrive in this forest."

I looked in wonder at this towering, booming tree before me, before addressing him. "Great Deku Tree," I said, "I've been sent by the King of Red Lions. My name is--" _Touya!_ "--Link. He needs me to ask you of your pearl. We need it."

The Great Deku Tree thought for a moment, looking bewildered, before finally responding, "Ah, yes. Fayore's Pearl. As a matter of fact... Link, was your name...? You come at a very opportune time. The people of this forest and I are completing a ceremony today, and I will be able to give you the Fayore's Pearl as soon as it is done. However, I believe we must make haste. The monsters, as you have seen, have begun to congregate even in this holy wood. I fear for the safety of this world." The Great Deku Tree closed his eyes, and continued in a greater voice, most likely heard from outside, "Koroks! Little children of the wood! This traveller is not an enemy! Be at ease and show yourselves!"

The words echoed through the hollow space, and suddenly a rustling was heard in the branches of the Great Deku Tree and all around me. Little children jumped up from all around, and fell from the air above, floating gracefully as they grasped tightly on leaves. They fell much like the sparkling lights around me, dazzling and fleeting.

As they fell near me, the Great Deku Tree spoke to me again, in a gentle voice, "Link, these are the spirits of the forest, the Koroks. Long ago, the Koroks were much like humans, but they have since assumed a childish form. They fear humans now, but I am sure they will not fear you, Link. They are my children. Koroks..." he continued, directed at the group of forest children that now surrounded me, "...are you ready to begin the ceremony?"

"We are not, Great Deku Tree!!" A tiny voice shrieked as it descended from the sky. "It is Makar! Makar!!"

As the new Korok floated before the Great Deku Tree's face, he spoke, "What is going on, Linder? You and Makar are always late!"

Linder apologized as he flailed frantically in the air, seeking maybe some support from the air. "I am sorry, Great Deku Tree, but it is Makar! He has fallen into the Forbidden Woods!!"

"WHAT?!" The Great Deku Tree boomed in rage and disbelief. The Forbidden Woods appeared to be... very forbidden.

The frantic Korok continued, "I am sorry! I told him to be careful, but still, he flew overtop of the Forbidden Woods, and then..."

"Foolish little Makar..." The Great Deku Tree mumbled, angry and dissastisfied. "Link, did you hear all of that? The Forbidden Woods is a vile place, the island right near our Forest Haven, where we are now. The entire island is riddled with beasts and monsters. And now they have taken one of the children, Makar... I feel your appearance here is no coincidence. The King of Red Lions no doubt feels the same way. I feel terrible to ask this of you, but could you please rescue young Makar from the forest?"

"But, Great Deku Tree..." Linder complained, finally completing his tedious descent to the ground, "...People cannot fly, and the Forbidden Woods cannot be entered by sea!"

"Ah, yes, that IS right, isn't it...?" The Great Deku Tree contemplated, "Link, I will no doubt guess that you are heavier than my Korok children, but I believe I may be able to find a solution for you. I will give you an item that will help you to fly through the sky, and into the Forbidden Woods."

With that, the Great Deku Tree paused, and strained, as if in pain. There was a low rumbling through the forest, and the Great Deku Tree let out a large yell. It echoed through the trunk, straining my ears, and a pressure filled the air--!

And in a high branch, a comical fwip noise was heard.

"Oh, dear." The Great Deku Tree observed, blatantly, "Link, the item is stuck on the high branches. Could you go fetch it from there?"

I paused for a moment, hiding my complete exasperation for the situation I was in, then reluctantly ran to the side of the tree, and into a bulbus plant. My body hinged, almost into a ball, and the plant grumbled, soon spitting me out.

I felt the air rush past me, and my body spun irratically in a circle, veering straight into another plant, raised higher by a sort of branch jutting from the ground.

I continued this almost vomit-inducing pattern for another minute, spiraling up the length of the tree, until I finally reached the high branch.

I spun onto the leafy branch, and I grasped the oversized leaf that lay there.

As I did, I felt overcome by bright energy, filling my body to the brim, giving me energy and strength. I felt overcome with ability.

I took the leaf in both hands, its rubber-like texture pleasing to the touch. I eyed up my landing spot: an arrow on the grassy ledge in the side of the outer trunk.

I gripped the leaf tightly, backing up on the branch, and ran.

As I felt my feet leaving the branch, my body suspended itself in the air, the leaf, my parachute. The wind whipped past my face, filling my ears, and my senses. I felt my heart soar a little bit more for the few moments I stayed in the air, landing on the ledge in only a few short moments.

A large opening laid before me, and I went through it, the scent of sea water filling my nostrils instantly.

I walked out of the opening, and stood on the ledge in front of me. To my left, there was a pillar of earth erupted from the sea, and directly before me, the Forbidden Woods. Its ominous deep glow sucked in my eyes, and I stared for moments before remembering my task.

With the leaf still in hand, I ran off the ledge, the wind instantly shoving me in the direction of the earth pillar. The wind rushed past so much faster than the still air of the Forest Haven.

In no time at all, I had reached the earth pillar, feeling drained. After drinking a potion that laid in the grass and conducting a quick song with the silver baton almost unintentionally, I ran off the pillar and into the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

The wind changed direction, and a whirlwind propelled me upward.

With the extra help from the winds, I soon reached the Forbidden Forest, dropping onto a small ledge before a wooden door.

With a gulp of tension, and a breath of uncertainty, I rushed through the door, leaving all emotions behind. There would be no time for them.

Kansou no Satsuka

Okay, well, another chapter gone, another little chunk of the story covered.

And, of course, another little piece of me dies out of bad feelings for the chapter. I'm always too critical as soon as I've written something. It's no good. It sucks, actually. I'd rather just be content. But then again, then I'd have no ambition to improve, so I suppose it's a two-sided coin. (I hate that.)

But yes. All general self-pity aside, now I give you the generic whoop-de-doo message: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope sincerly that you will continue to read it in the future! And, as always, reviews result in my undying love and gratitude. Just so you know.

Thanks for comin' out. See you next week, kiddies.

-Shojo!


	9. The Death Flower

Chapter Nine: The Death Flower

**This is a dungeon chapter, so once again: OMG, violence.**

_"With a gulp of tension, and a breath of uncertainty, I rushed through the door, leaving all emotions behind. There would be no time for them."_

The wooden door closed behind me with a thunk, and the glow of the moon was cut off in its haste. I needed not to wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, as light filled the room I had entered, but it was an eerie light. It lacked the lustre and brilliance of the sun and moon, and it seemed cold, sending shivers down my spine.

I looked around. The room was actually very large, and very natural like the Great Deku Tree's island. Grass and moss lined all of the walls, and two small pathways before me forked apart, one to a vine-covered door, and the other to a pot, pouring steam and fog out from beneath its wooden lid. Small monsters rustled in the cold, unnatural grass, hasty, waiting to attack the unsuspecting enemy.

As I walked towards the door on one path, the rustling grew, then faded slightly. I shivered once more, the cold eerieness of the forgotten and forbidden place getting to me.

The door was before me in a moment, and I pulled out my sword. The glow gleaming off of it, I stabbed the sword at the old vines that covered the door. It was like rock, and I fell back from the recoil.

My eyes centered on the bulb plant in the center of the vines. I readied my sword again after rising to my feet, and ran the sword straight into it.

The sword cut through the plant with a highly satisfying 'shlurp' sound, and the plant was in two, quickly melding back together into one, like nothing had happened.

I tried again, getting only the same result.

I groaned, and looked around desprately for a solution, and one in a far corner of the room caught my eye. It was like a giant walnut, sitting on a wooden pedastal, that looked like it was once a stump of a tree. I jumped into the grass, instantly getting ambushed by a venus flytrap-like monster. The monster bit at my left arm, and blood squirted slightly, running down my arm. In one motion, I grabbed my sword in my other hand, bringing it to the thick 'stem' of the monster, and slicing across. The head of the plant monster fell to the ground gently, and I quietly massaged my arm, only causing myself more pain, and continued along to the walnut.

I pulled it off of the pedastal, lifting it into my chest with my right arm. It was much lighter than it looked, only weighing as much as my sword.

As I reached the door, I pulled the walnut back behind my body into my palm, and thrust it forward. It narrowly missed the bulb.

I tried again. This time, the walnut collided straight on with the bulb. It was crushed instantly, and the vines pulled away from the door. I smiled in self-satisfaction, only to realize that I hadn't really achieved anything, and I continued on through the door.

I shivered again.

---

As another walnut collided with another door, I found myself in a hallway, deep in the depths of the forest. The wooden walls reached five times as high as I could, and as the hallways stretched forth, in the bushes and grass before me, I heard rustling, the same rustling from the first room, but quieter. I felt that I needed to run, that something was not right in this room, but I knew I had to get through that hallway.

I walked forward, keeping my eye on the door at the end of it, moving closer.

I kept my eye close on the pit, ignoring the sounds around me, moving carefully through the grass, always keeping my eye on the door.

Suddenly, my left foot had no ground to walk on, and I lost my balance. I fell loud and painfully into a dark pit.

Suddenly, black fuzzy creatures surrounded me, clamping onto my clothes and flesh. There must have been dozens of them.

I tried to get up. I could not. The creatures rendered me motionless.

Suddenly, I felt a pain. First, in my arm, my chest, in my legs, and then all over. A sharp, burning pain filled my entire body, like I was being stabbed with a hundred red-hot blades. I felt blood well up in my throat, and my breaths shortened. I gasped for air, but could not find any.

These things were sucking out my life.

Frantically, I centered my strength into my left arm. With all the power I could muster into a single moment, I flung my arm away from my body, and the creatures on my arm went flying. They instantly began racing back towards me, and I pulled out my sword, slicing them in two as they got close.

With my arm free, I glided the sword along the length of my body, cutting all of the monsters there in half. A purple mist engulfed me from the aftermath.

Quickly, I stood up. 5 creatures still crawled around my body. I quickly somersaulted into the wall, and they all went flying off, dissolving into a purple mist from the force of the hit.

I turned my back on the wall, reading my sword, in case any other creatured were still hiding in the corners.

When I was satisfied, I put my sword away, finally, and wiped a drop of blood from the corner of my mouth. Was that ever close.

I jumped up the wall and out of the pit, and continued along the hallway, this time jumping over the pit and grabbing some healing hearts from the grass along the way, letting the healing do it's work before finishing my time in the hallway.

When I walked through the door, finally, a normal room greeted me. There were several raised bulbs (like the ones I had used to climb the Deku Tree not an hour before), and to my left, there was a bomb plant, and two boarded off doorways, one on a raised slope. The room was high-reaching, as if you could fit the Great Deku Tree in there, and contained an eerie silence.

I ignored this omen, rushing over the the bomb plant to get the boards off of the door, but for whatever reason, not meaning to, stopping.

A giant, thorny root twice as big as the tallest person in the Great Sea suddenly burst out of the ground, scraping my chest and sending me flying backwards. I lied in the grass in disbelief for several seconds, before the root retracted to the ground, and I was able to snap myself back into reality.

What in the world was going on here?

---

As if exhaustion hadn't already run its pace, and against my better judgement, I opened one more cold wooden door, and as I entered into the room behind it, bars locked it closed. I had a feeling I was headed nowhere good, and fast.

I looked around for a moment, slowly, noticing the distinct lack of light, worse than the other rooms. In fact, the only light in the room, apart from the same faint green glow, was a dazzing facade of light, small glowing bulbs falling gently from the celing.

I looked up to see where they were coming from.

And above me, there was a moth, greater than anything I'd ever seen, and it looked me straight in the eye.

I let out a staggered scream, choking deep in my throat, and the moth thrust away from the wall, gliding out into the center of the room.

I looked into its beady eye with nothing but fear for the creature, and it saw the fear.

With fire in its spirit, the moth picked up speed, flying towards me, ever faster, closing in.

And right before the monster arrived, I felt, once more, a shove to the side, and the monster only skidded against my right arm.

I felt new-found courage, suddenly, as the monster curved around for a second shot. I pulled out the leaf from the Great Deku Tree, and swung it forward with all of the power I had. A whirlwind spun out from the leaf, and collided with the moth, who floated down, stunned. I ran over instantly, and slid my sword at the moth. The cold steel sliced right through the moth's left wing like butter, and as the wing floated slowly down to the ground, dissolving into that same purple mist, the moth started to fly lopsided, almost pathetic.

It haphazardly tried to propel itself into me, and I send another whirlwind flying towards it, soon cutting off its other wing. The moth fell to the ground, more angry than it had ever been. With it's one eye beet-red from anger, it turned its back to me and from its back end, it began shooting black fuzzy creatures at me, the same ones I had run into earlier.

A shiver rocketed down my spine, and my breathing hurried. Erratic, I whipped my arms away from my body, and quickly sliced the rest off of my body.

Without a moment's hesitation (as I could spare none), I dashed for the angry moth, and my sword slid with a wet noise straight into the eye of the monster.

As the madness slid into silence, so did the moth into a mist, leaving that same familiar jewel in its place. I ignored the jewel for a moment, but soon giving in, if only for the hearts, and as I cracked the jewel open, behind me, I heard two sets of bars slide open. One for the door I took to get into the room, and another for a connecting room, where a treasure chest lay.

I walked into the room, cautiously. The treasure chest was gold-rimmed, and surrounded with rupees. I took all of the rupees (there was only about 8 there), and opened the treasure chest with care. Inside, lay a beautifully crafted boomerang, made from soft, yellow wood, tipped in a silver or pewter, and a small jewel was imbedded in the center. I held it in my hand. It felt fragile, and yet, probably more strong and sturdy than my sword.

I observed the boomerang for a moment, until my mind drifted back to what had happened before. In my fights at the top of Dragon Roost, and now, in this temple. Both, nearly getting killed by a thorny root, and by a great moth. Someone was controlling me. Someone had power over me. And I needed to know who.

I heard a rustling in the grasses behind me, and I spun around.

No one was there.

"WHO'S THERE?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Nothing.

"I SAID--" I started again, as I felt a brush against my shoulder.

And as I turned around, I saw a girl standing there for just a moment, before she disappeared, saying the word I had heard before: Touya.

I fell to the ground in surprise, scrambling back with my face to where she stood. All at once, I felt that same hot, shooting, sharp pain in my head. Who are you? Who are you?! WHO ARE YOU?!

"I am." I heard the voice again.

"Yes? YES?!" I yelled. I said it again, louder.

I heard no response.

Soon, with a swear under my breath and a huffy rise to my feet, I left the room, wishing I only knew what the hell was going on.

---

I sat for a moment to rest in the ambient room that held the door to the boss' chamber. Vines stretched over the wooden walls, and a pot lied near the lit doorway. Small honeycomb-like bulbs were laying periodically over the floor, and small puddles collected near the side walls.

Soon enough, I remembered that Makar, the entire reason I even came to that God-forsaken place was behind that door, and there was no time for rest. I could rest on my way to the next island. I hurried through the monsterous door without much more hesitation.

As I entered the wide and tall room, the first thing I saw was another one of the forest children, little Makar, standing on a flowery, puffy platform.

He squeeled with delight as I entered the room. "Traveller! Have you come to save me?" I smiled, hurrying across the room to the pedastal.

As I opened my mouth to speak, behind Makar, a hungry little plant, like a Venus flytrap, raised from the ground.

The plant...

...ate Makar.

I gasped in horror, as the plants laughed at me, and petals connected to the pedastal curled up, vines growing out of the ends, and pulling the enormous death flower off of the ground. I stared in wonder as hook-ended tentril-like roots grew from the bottom of the flower, and a battle commenced.

I readied my boomerang. If anything, I had to get that flower back to the ground. I aimed for the vines, and swung.

The boomerang sliced through three of the 12 vines, falling to the ground on the other side of the room.

"Crap!" I whispered to myself, hurrying around to get it, and hearing the roots, burying into the ground as I did so.

Suddenly, the roots burst from the ground, flailing around, one hook catching my left arm. I cringed in pain, but kept hurrying all the same. Once, I had reached the boomerang, I readied it once more, and swung. It sliced 5 more vines, and the flower became very lopsided. The boomerang returned to me, but the roots had once again popped up before me, another two hook catching my chest, and ripping a good chunk of flesh out. With a yell of pain, I fell back into the ground, and lay there, waiting for the roots to retreat.

Soon enough, they did, and I stood on my knees, throwing the boomerang, only to fall flat on my face with the pain in my chest.

I heard the boomerang slice through the final four vines, and I scurried to my feet. The death flower fell to the ground with a gentle thud, and the petals unfurled. The plant that ate Makar was exposed.

I ran for the plant, my sword before me, and I sliced as hard and fast as I could, again and again.

I felt the petals beginning to curl again.

"Oh, no, you don't!" I yelled.

I swung my arms back, powering for a final swing...

And the plant's head was off. It exploded upwards, landing near the petals, and squirmed back and forth for several moments, until exploding into a mist, leaving an esctatic Makar in its place.

The petals, which had relaxed after nearly enveloping me, began to be pulled to the sky, light shining down, and soon they relaxed, slowly dying and turning into a dead pile of plant remains. A circling, bright updraft stood on the flower pedastal, exactly like the one I walked into in the Dragon Roost Cavern.

"Swordsman..." Makar spoke in a meek voice, and I turned to face him. "Thank you so much for rescuing me! When everything went dark, I thought my time on Earth was over! But, why are you here?"

There was an awkward silence as Makar thought, and soon, gasped.

"That's right!!" He exclaimed, "Today is the day of our ceremony! Oh no, I'm in trouble! I must get back to the Great Deku Tree!!"

Without another word, we both hurried into the updraft, and disappeared for a moment's time.

---

The next thing I saw was the Great Deku Tree's face, staring little Makar in the eye with strong, but soft strictness.

"Makar, you have returned!" He said, happily.

"I'm sooooooorry, Great Deku Tree!!" Makar blubbered before the tree, "You warned us so many times, but I did not listen!"

The Great Deku Tree laughed kindly for the child, "Don't worry, Makar. You have returned safely, that is what matters! Now, you must be careful from now on, alright?" The Great Deku Tree's gaze turned to me, "Link, I must thank you. You have done well, and you have done many brave deeds. Now, I shall give you what I have promised you. Please cherish it."

The Great Deku Tree shook his tall branches, and from them fell a jewel, dropping gently and slowly into my hands.

The Fayore's Jewel was mine. I handled it in my hands, and it gave off a gentle green glow, filling my spirit, and warming my heart. It was beautiful.

As Makar continued to cry, the Great Deku Tree spoke with a gentle kindness, "Do not cry, Makar. Please, play your songs for us like you always do."

Makar instantly snapped back into reality, "That's right! We must begin the ceremony soon, before the day ends! I'm sorry to hold everything up! Let's begin!"

Makar disappeared for a moment, the returned with a cello in hand, and a makeshift bow from a twig, with berries tied to the end. He turned to me, "Link, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. In return, I shall play even harder than I usually do! I sincerely hope you enjoy it!"

Makar put the twig up to the cello, and played a short note, almost mockingly, before breaking into an uptempo jig. I swung happily to the tune. I could almost hear an entire orchestra behind every note.

The other children joined in the song, singing together a grand chorus.

The voices grew louder, the song happier, and the Great Deku Tree smiled as he listened.

Seeds began to grow at the top of the Great Deku Tree, and as the cello and the voices let out a final note, the children burst up from their places on the ground, collecting the seeds from the top of the tree.

"These are excellent seeds, once more, Great Deku Tree! With these, we are sure to spread the forests across the Great Sea! Let us go, Koroks! To the Great Sea!" A voice yelled out from the many Koroks in the air.

They wished each other luck and good tidings, and soon, flew away, and the air was still once more.

Quickly, and quietly, I said my goodbyes to the Great Deku Tree and Makar, and left the area, leaving the twinking lights in the air, and the fresh scent behind.

As the salty sea air filled my nostrils, burning them, almost. I hurried for the King of Red Lions, who waited patiently where he sat as I entered the island.

Once more, I conducted a short song, and the wind blew where we needed to go next, to the north-west.

Soon enough, I would have the final pearl. And maybe I would figure out... what exactly was going on around there.

Kansou no Satsuka

**_In Other Words: Holy crap, it's 1:45 in the morning and I have to do these stupid comments?!_**

Chapter 9. Wow. Done and done. And frick, am I tired.

I mean, you'd think I wouldn't be that bad. I've had to do these comments at 4:25 in the morning, and stayed, well, RELATIVELY sane... But yeah.

Once again, as always, thank you for reading. I would love a review, as I've only one regular reviewer on this story, and it's quite sad sometimes, actually.

This chapter, I'm actually kind of proud of. I don't much enjoy covering dungeons, but it turned out alright. I personally liked Dragon Roost Cavern quite well, but apparently I skimped on it, so there's more bulk in this dungeon. Or, I tried to give it some. It worked, I hope.

So, yes. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story in the future.

So long.

-Shojo!


	10. Courage

Chapter Ten: Courage  


_"Soon enough, I would have the final pearl. And maybe I would figure out... what exactly was going on around there."  
_

The north-westernly wind propelled the King of Red Lions and I through the Great Sea for hour upon hour, night becoming day, the clear skies exploding with the great and brilliant light of the sun in the sky. The light reflected off of the waters, an azure sun-burst gashing into my eyes. Small islands, whirlwinds on the waters, and the lofty clouds in the sky seemed to propel themselves past us, the sea travel finally getting to me. I tried to ignore all water-bound monsters around us, all internal conflict, for just this moment. I knew well that this was the thing I had to concentrate on. There was no doubt in my mind.

As the repetitive rocking of the boat, lashing of the sea waters, and tireless efforts to cross the ocean began to bore into my mind, I finally saw it. The island we were headed towards.

Greatfish Island.

The King of Red Lions predictably piped up, asking me if I saw it, adding in a bewildered comment of, "What has happened to this place?"

I asked myself the same question. While the sun shined down all around me and the oceans, the island, a picturesque scene of destruction, held one swirling, deep-black cloud about itself.

We neared the island more, and the damage suffered by the island came all the more apparent to me. Chunks of land jutted up into the air, hundreds of feet tall. Scattered debris filled the island, and islet-sized pieces of the island itself sat in the ocean nearby. It was a horrifying sight. Rain began pattering on us as we neared the island, coming beneath the ever-looming cloud.

"We are… too late." The King of Red Lions said, with fear on his breath as I stepped out onto the cold earth of the island, "I knew we had precious little time, but I never imagined how little… The great spirit Jabun lived on this island, but it's clear nothing remains."

I shook as a chill swept through my body. Darkness was there, and I could feel it creeping upon me.

"HOY!!" A familiar deep voice shook me from my fears. It was Quill, the Rito mailman from Outset. I welcomed him, albeit a bit shakily, as he landed. "So you're here!" He proclaimed, "I've been looking for you. You're no doubt seeking out Jabun, the great spirit that once lived here. I'm sorry, and I suppose, glad, to say that he no longer resides here. Just look at the damage done, here! I can think of no one else responsible than that shadow-like figure who lives in the Forsaken Fortress. But, don't be afraid. Jabun was able to escape before the man arrived here. He found safety somewhere else. You're probably wondering where that could be. Why, Link, on the very island you were born on. On Outset!"

I paused in shock. The very place I was…?

I stopped thinking. If anything, I knew well that the moment I thought any further, I would feel that same hot, sharp feeling, whenever I question my history, or myself.

"Yet…" The Rito continued, "If you were to go to Outset now, even you could not find him. He is hidden in a cave on your island, shut in with a great stone slab… I am sorry, Link, but I have told the pirates of this, as well. I thought that if anyone knew where to find you, they would be it. I don't know what they were hoping to acquire, but they instantly set out for Outset as tried to break into the cave. Fortunately, their success was limited, and I last heard they were docked at Windfall Island. I'm not sure what they are doing there, but I'm sure it isn't good. I'd suggest finding out what they are up to before heading to Outset."

There was a pause. I tried to process all of the information Quill was giving me.

Quill spoke again, quietly, "Just look at this place. Everywhere else in the Great Sea is boasting clear, warm skies, but here, we suffer under rain and dark clouds. Valoo, the spirit you helped on Dragon Roost, told me to bring word of Jabun to you. He called with island cursed. Now I understand. I sincerely hope you do not stay here longer than you have to. I'm afraid my job here is done. I have told you of Jabun. The rest is yours to complete."

With that, Quill turned is back to me, and, with a running start, flew off into the distance.

Another chill swept through me, being soaked from the rain that continued to fall from the ominous sky above. As if I could not leave soon enough, I climbed into the King of Red Lions, and we sailed off, towards Windfall Island.

---

With the darkness following close behind, and the rain still falling on us, we arrived at Windfall, the pirates' monstrous ship docked in the same place where I awoke first coming to the island.

"It is like the Rito has told us." The King of Red Lions said in a steady whisper, "The pirates have docked at the back of the island so as to be less obvious to the townspeople. I know not what they are attempting in this place, but it is no doubt connected to Jabun. I would suggest you find out what they are up to..." The King of Red Lions paused, before adding, "...without them finding out about you."

With that, I hopped off of the King, and onto the sandy beach I had seen before, albeit in much lighter circumstances. My small leather shoes sank slowly into the wet sand of the beach, and left a small imprint that, before long, was swept away by the onslaught of water.

Without much hesitation, and without a clue where to go otherwise, I decided to sneak into the pirate ship to find out, maybe, where they were.

I ran up the inclining hill and the cliff, that attached at the top, next to it. Next to the end of the cliff, the pirates' ship sat in the water, rocked back and forth by the wind. I stepped back from the edge of the cliff, and with a running start, felt my legs leave the ground, catching onto the front deck of the ship. A sting echoed through my legs, but I tried to ignore it. I jumped from the raised part of the deck I was on, down, in front of the door to the inside of the ship. I knocked quickly and quietly with a plan in mind, holding my back to the wall of the ship.

"WHO CLEANS PIRATES' EARS?!" A voice screamed from the door. It was Niko, the short pirate that I had met on the ship back when I left Outset.

"Niko..." I whispered, in a low, gruff voice unlike my own, "...I can't find Miss Tetra!"

"What?! Is that you, Gonzo? You idiot!!" Niko yelled in a very hushed voice, "Miss Tetra's at the bomb shop, and that's exactly where you should be right now!!"

"Where's the bomb shop?" I continued in my low voice. This was too easy.

"It's on the cliff right across the beach from us! Get over there, or Miss Tetra's going to kill you!" Niko yelled, no longer staying quiet. I smiled, quickly jumping from the ship into the beach water beside it. I hurried across the cold sand and overgrown grass to reach the bomb shop, a small building, independent from the rest of the town. Without thinking, I knocked on the dark wooden doors of the shop, before, quickly, I realized what I was doing and ducked around the corner of the shop. I heard the doors open, and one of the pirates stepping out for a moment to look, but I didn't pay attention to them. I had to find out what they were doing in the shop.

The side of the shop I was on faced the ocean, and seemed to have an opening at the back of the shop. As I sidled along the cold stone of the wall so as to not fall into the ocean, I soon reached the back wall of the store. A group of rough vines climbed up the length of the wall. I grabbed onto one, pulling myself up and grabbing another one, until I had reached the top of the shop, a flat area with another roof sticking up behind it. A small hole at the end of the flat area shined with light, and I got onto my hands and knees to crawl through. It was time to get out of the rain.

As I crawled into the bomb shop via the rafters, I could hear the pirates already boasting away in victory. They had obviously gotten what they needed. And from the place I was in, I assumed what they needed, was bombs. I crawled to the edge of the rafters to see. Two pirates, one big and burly, the other short and brainy, stood in the far corner, talking to themselves, and a group of four stood in a corner, holding boxes of bombs and keeping relatively to themselves.

"Look, don't get mad at us! It's not our fault that we NEED bombs to get the treasure we're after!" The big, burly pirate wailed as he tied who looked like the bomb shop owner up in the corner. "Just think of it as payback for this monopoly going on here!"

"I must say, it was foolhardy of you to expect pirates to pay such an absurd price for bombs." The other pirate spoke. He was short, held a book in his left arm, and constantly adjusted his glasses. "By the way, Gonzo, that was some fast talking you did earlier to get that information out of the postman!"

The big, burly pirate, apparently named Gonzo, spoke up again, "Huh? Oh... Oh, yeah! That was smooth. I mean, when I saw that kid on Outset, I just knew he was hiding something. So, then that postman comes around, and I just pretend like I'm all worried about the kid, and boom! He just spills everything!"

The brainy pirate piped up, with an air of pride on his voice, "Great work, Gonzo. You know, I think this is the first time I've seen you use such wit and cunning... You know, with your cunning and Miss Tetra's smarts, if you two got married and had a kid, that kid would be the greatest pirate ever to roam the seas! There's no doubt!"

Gonzo blushed and scratched his head in embarrassment, "Y... you idiot! Keep your mouth shut, huh? Miss Tetra, are you listening to this guy? Can't you dock him some pay or something?"

I looked over the edge some more. Tetra, the girl that seemed to be constantly leading the group, stood in the corner with one eye open, thinking to herself. "Shut up, both of you! Keep your stupid jokes to yourself!" She said irritated, "Get those bombs back to the ship, and as soon as you're done, we're taking off for Outset!"

"WHAT?!" Gonzo yelled in exasperation, "But... but Miss Tetra! It's been SO long since we've been on land! Couldn't we just stay here for the night and leave tomorrow morning? I mean, I'm fine with whatever you say, but that treasure isn't going anywhere, and it's been so long since we've had some decent grub!" Gonzo turned to the pirates in the other corner for support, "Come on, what do you say, guys?"

No one said anything.

"You're all fools, you know that?!" Tetra exploded, walking away from the corner, "You saw that demolished island! You saw all that senseless destruction! We have to get to Outset before the same thing happens there!!"

The brainy pirate piped up carefully, "Umm... not to be disrespectful, Miss, but it sounds like you're more worried about the state of that island than the treasure!"

"Don't be stupid!" Tetra yelled, seemingly a bit stung by the idea that she was quite that obvious, "I want... you know... the treasure..."

She quieted down, and her eyes wandered, quickly finding eye contact with me. I backed up on the rafters instantly, hoping she hadn't seen me. I shouldn't've bothered... it was obvious she did.

"On second thought..." Tetra said, relaxed, "Fine. You can have it your way. We'll leave tomorrow, you babies. But we're off at dawn, so no sleeping in! Got it?"

"AYE-AYE!!" The pirates yelled in unison, and by the sounds of the footsteps, they began to leave the room.

"Hey, Gonzo, what was today's password for the ship again?" I could hear the brainy pirate talking to Gonzo again.

"What? Are you serious? You're so useless! Today's password is swabbies! Remember? You know Niko's not gonna let you on the ship if you don't know it!" Gonzo replied, exasperated. The rest of their conversation was lost as they rushed out of the room, and into the town.

When I was sure they were all gone, I carefully jumped from the rafters down to the floor of the bomb shop. I glanced over at the bomb shop owner, and took pity on him, if only for a second, leaving the building anyways.

As I walked outside, I could see the pirates rounding the path into town, and the rain pounded down harder than before. I hurried towards the pirate ship, hoping that, where ever the pirates were headed, they wouldn't see me.

Soon enough, I reached the door of the ship, and, this time with reckless abandon, knocked on the door.

"WHO CLEANS PIRATES' EARS?!" Niko's voice screamed from behind the door once more.

"Swabbies." I said with confidence, recalling what I overheard back in the bomb shop.

"Yeah, yeah, you know the password. Whatever. Come in." Niko replied calmly, losing the ear-splitting screech of his yelling.

I heard a lock unlock with a click, and I pushed the cold, damp wooden door open, the rusted hinges creaking as if they were ancient along the way.

As I entered into the old room with the staircase in the middle, walking down into the lowest room of the ship, Niko's ratty face greeted me, unpleasantly familiar.

"OH! Link, my old swabbie, Link!!" He exclaimed, ecstatic to see me, "So, you're alive? All of the other pirates said that that bird got you at Forsaken Fortress, or... so I thought... But who cares what I thought?! You're alive!" Niko looked as if he would hug me, but didn't. "Oh, I get it now! You came back because you missed me so much and wanted to be my swabbie! I had no idea! Well... after you left, I was the bottom rung on the ladder again, which is why I'm stuck keeping down the ship while everyone else is out partying and eating. But I suppose being worshipped by my swabbie ought to help. All right, why don't we get you on your next test? It's harder than the last, so good luck, cause you're gonna need it, swabbie!"

Niko walked over a bit more, as if to point out the essentials of the 'test', "Remember last time, when you pushed the switch, and platforms raised for you? Well, this time, there are none! You have to jump from lantern to lantern and get to the other side before the door closes! If it closes, you have to go back, push the button, and try again! And guess what, swabbie? If you can get all the way to the other side before time runs out, I'll give you all the bombs we got in town! Yeah, you heard me! Give it your best shot!"

With that, Niko left to the other side of the room, and the gate on the door closed behind him. I was highly tempted to walk out and leave him trapped there, but I knew I had to get those bombs.

Reluctantly, I walked to the switch, and pushed it down with a thunk. The steel gate at the end opened with a slick mettalic sound, and I was set on my way.

I jumped with all of my power at the lantern than hung in front of me. I grabbed onto the rope, and my weight pulled me down slightly, burning my hands on the roughness of it. The lantern and I on the rope swung back and forth, and once I had gathered enough courage, I let go of the lantern I was on, throwing myself towards the next one in front of me. My weight pulled me down again, and the rope burn caused me to let go for a second, and I fell down-- quickly grabbing onto the top of the lantern first. I pulled myself upwards, carefully and slowly, ignoring the snickers I heard coming from Niko.

After I had pulled myself up, I tried to set the lantern and rope into a swinging motion again, swinging to the left, towards the next lantern, but I was taking too long. I could hear a ticking noise, warning me that I was running out of time.

"Damn it!" I said to myself, as I placed my feet on the lantern, quickly heading for a change of course. I rocketed myself forward, away from the lantern I had planned on going for, and ahead to the last one in the course.

My hands and arms outstretched, I reached for the lantern. It seemed so far, and if I could only get a little bit farther...

My hands grasped onto the inside of the lantern. The lantern creaked from the weight and would probably snap at any moment. My fingers singed as they touched the fire inside the lantern. With all faith I had, I reached up for the rope, pulling myself up.

The ticking quickened.

I had pulled myself up the rope, slowly but carefully, and I swung the rope and lantern back and forth towards and away from the door and treasure that seemed so close.

The ticking reached a climax. There was no time.

In frustration, I flung myself away from the lantern and rope, a grand leap of faith towards the door.

My body collided with the platform at the end, and I quickly slid into the connecting room, where Niko stood, in part-amazement, part-terror, and all-around confusion over what he'd just seen.

"W...WHAT?! You did it already?! Y... you're... INCREDIBLE!" Niko said in a flurry of emotions, going on to mumble incoherently to himself. I couldn't hear a word, but he was probably wondering whether or not to actually give me the bombs.

"Uh..." Niko said, aloud, "...So, I guess I'll just give you the bombs now. Go ahead, take them. But don't tell anyone! Okay? I'm serious!!"

Niko left the room, fidgeting, wondering how in the world he would ever cover this up. I walked up to the extravagant treasure chest and opened it, a giant, rough leather bag of at least 30 bombs waiting for me inside. I took it out proudly. I was sure if the pirates needed these to get to Jabun, they would help me.

"That's pretty courageous of you, stealing treasure from pirates!!" Tetra's voice erupted from the room, nearly scaring both me, and Niko, who awaited on the platform outside the room, to death. A warm light emanated from my pockets, and I removed a small crystal from my pocket. The jewel Tetra sneaked in my pockets back before the Forsaken Fortress. I had completely forgotten about it.

She continued on her own monologue, Niko choosing not to question why I had a talking stone, and myself choosing not to interrupt her. "I suppose I'm pretty shocked you actually managed to survive that fall from the tower at the Forsaken Fortress. From the look on your face, I'm going to guess you haven't rescued your sister, yet. You don't think things through well, do you? Like just now... the only reason you got those bombs on your hands was because we left a rat like Niko behind to watch the ship for us. Trust me, no one else would've parted with the treasure that easily! And why did you take those bombs, anyways? Don't tell me you plan on stealing Jabun's treasure for yourself! Look, right now, Jabun is hiding in the back of your home island, blocked in by a giant stone slab. You can't get in without breating that stone! Tonight, we're staying here to have our fill of everything on this island. If you can get Jabun's treasure tonight, then I suppose you win, but if you don't, tomorrow morning, we'll come sailing right past you, and trust me... you didn't get all of our bombs!"

With that, the crystal turned cool again, and Niko walked into a corner, worried for what Tetra would do to him when she returned. I had no time to lose. In a moment's time, I left the ship, returning to the King of Red Lions. The rain had quieted slightly, however still falling, and the deep, gloomy dark of the night still lingering in the air. Without a word, we left the island, quickly taking off for Outset.

---

"Have you noticed, Link?" The King of Red Lions spoke in a hushed voice as the darkness and rain still sat in the air approaching Outset Island. "We have sailed for hours, yet day has not broken since we visited Greatfish Island. While I'm sure this is a curse from evil itself, perhaps you could use it to your advantage, and visit with your family. We are in no rush with this curse upon us."

With those words, we docked at the front of the island, and I got off. The King of Red Lions mentioned that I should return when I was ready to continue on with the search for Jabun. First, I had to see Grandma.

From the cold and wet dock, I ran to Grandma's house, the closest house on the right of where I stood. As I approached the strangely familiar home, I felt a pang in my heart, not like the hot and sharp ones in my head, but a cold one, as if something was wrong. I hurried into the home.

All I heard as I entered into the small house was a series of quiet, incoherent mumblings and groans. I went around the corner to see what was wrong.

Grandma was sitting in her rocking chair, a warm cloth on her forehead, a blanket keeping her warm. She shook and shivered as if she were going to die.

"Grandma--" I said, any other words choking in my throat.

"Ohh... Link..." All of her words came out slowly, as if they had to cross an impossible obstacle course just to make it out of her mouth. "How are you? ...And where... where is Aryll? Is she outside, playing?"

At that point, my heart...

...broke.

Tears rolled out of my eyes and down my cheek, and I broke down sobbing into her lap.

It was all my fault. Now she was... Grandma was... sick...

I paused, and all at once, ran out of the house.

Something was wrong, yet, I couldn't quite tell what. My eyes glanced over at the King of Red Lions, and I decided not to bother thinking about it. I said a silent apology to Grandma, and hurried on my way. I vowed to find out what was wrong with her...

...and, maybe, what was wrong with me.

I had soon enough reached the King of Red Lions, and we set off for the back of the island.

As we curved around to the back of the island, I could see a great stone slab, the height of nearly the entire island-side, and at least twice the length of the King of Red Lions across.

I also could see the monsterous whirlpool that spiralled around ominously in front of the slab.

The King of Red Lions, it appeared, did not.

We were caught in the whirlpool, and began a slow, but steady, spiral towards the centre.

"Quick!" The King of Red Lions yelled, "The bombs! Get out the bombs and aim for the stone slab!"

A cannon raised in the King of Red Lions, and I quickly grabbed a bomb, lighting it and placing it into the cannon.

I carefully aimed... and it was a hit. The bomb struck the slab with force, and dust and stone chunks fell from the slab. I quickly aimed again. The bomb veered off course, and struck the island-side.

"Do not waste any bombs!!" The King of Red Lions yelled at me, noticing my terrible miss.

I aimed again...

Suddenly the King of Red Lions' tail end swerved, and the bomb flew straight to the right of the slab. I tried again, aiming carefully, and waiting for the right moment. The bomb exploded out of the cannon, colliding with the stone slab.

A grand piece of the door, a third, even, fell from the slab in pieces, falling into the deep ocean. I smiled and cheered for a moment, almost causing the King of Red Lions and myself to flip into the whirlpool. I concentrated again.

I aimed a bomb and shot it, quickly doing the same with another. Both smashed into the wall, exploding with grand fanfare. Another third of the slab fell as chunks into the ocean.

"We are nearly in the centre of the whirlpool!" The King of Red Lions exclaimed, and I quickly put another bomb into the cannon, shooting it at the slab. It exploded on impact. Just one more...

"There is no time!!" The King of Red Lions yelled to me. He was right. There was none. I shoved another bomb into the cannon, and, with faith as the King of Red Lions' front end slowly was pulled into the water, shot.

All became watery and dark.

I gasped for air as the King of Red Lions resurfaced. The slab was destroyed, and I breathed heavily as the King of Red Lions floated gently into the cave. What luck.

As we entered the cave, only darkness greeted us. I could see nothing that appeared to be like Jabun. I could see nothing.

Suddenly, a small light glowed lightly and warmly from the water. It grew brighter and brighter, getting closer and closer, until...?

A giant fish burst from the water. It was like a blowfish, giant and round in shape, with two beady eyes and a large mouth that seemed to always be munching on something. A small lantern hanged from a tendril on its forehead, which lit up the entire cavern and Jabun himself.

It was Jabun.

"Well met, Hyrule king!" Jabun boomed, in a deep and full but old voice.

"Well met, indeed, Jabun. I am pleased to see that you are safe!" The King of Red Lions replied in a chummy manner.

"The events we have long feared seem to have been set into motion."

"Yes, it seems Ganon has returned. There is no other explanation."

"If you have sought me out, it means you have found the Hero of Time, no?"

"Unfortunately, that is not so."

"Then for what purpose have you come to see me?" Jabun responded, slightly impatient.

"The one I have brought with me..." The King of Red Lions continued, "...has no connection to the legendary one. However, I sense great promise in him."

"Promise?" Jabun retorted in a sarcastic manner, "You expect me to leave the fate of Hyrule up to mere chance?"

The King of Red Lions replied, dry and serious, "I do. It is the only way."

"I see. Then I suppose it is up to the gods to decide whether or not his courage is true. I give you the guidepost to the gods. Nayru's Pearl." Jabun finished. He shook his lantern, and a small, blue jewel flew out of it, and into my hands. It felt cool to the touch.

Nayru's Pearl. It was the last one.

We turned around, before Jabun spoke his last words to us, "That jewel should rid the land of Ganon's curse. By the way, King, have you found the one who carries the royal bloodline?"

The King of Red Lions thought and hesitated, before replying, "Yes, I believe I have."

With that, we left the cavern, entering out into the ocean once more. The rain had stopped, and the night, though still remaining, seemed less gloomy and still than before.

"Are you ready, Link?" The King of Red Lions asked me quietly, though confident, "We must now place the pearls before the three goddess statues north-east of here. This begins the true challenge."

As he said that, we set out north-east, with day not far behind.

---

The King of Red Lions and I soon neared the first goddess statue island. It was a small island with three steps up to a small stone statue of a goddess. I jumped out of the King of Red Lions, and up onto the island, up to the goddess statue. It held the picture of the Nayru's Sapphire on its forehead: three filled-in circles arranged in a triangle shape, connected by c's that hold the circles in place. Its eyes pulsed a bluish tint as I approached it. I placed the Nayru's Pearl into its hands, and everything went dark, around me for a moment, soon lighting up again, the pearl beginning to glow brightly.

I quickly hurried off of the island and into the King of Red Lions, leaving for the north.

Very soon, we came upon another island, very identical from the last. I climbed up, and the statue this time held the picture of a red firey wind upon its forehead. Its eyes began to pulse a reddish colour, and I placed the Din's Pearl into its hands. Again, everything went dark, and the pearl began to glow brightly as the light returned to the area.

Quickly, I found myself south, at the final island. When I approached the goddess statue, it held a symbol of an green ripple. Its eyes pulsed a greenish shade, and I placed the Fayore's Pearl into its hands.

Finally, something ticked. Something seemed to change about the statue, and I leaned in closer to see what.

A grand explosion, like a hundred bombs at once, blew me backwords as the stone shell blew off of the statue, a green woman... no... a green goddess being left in its place. I could not see anything more. I was a mile into the sky and could not focus in on anything.

The next thing I knew, my body collided with a stone tower, unlike anything I had ever seen, It felt as if everything in my body flattened and crushed, and I slowly fell back to the ocean.

I fell for ages, and as I fell with my back to the ocean, I saw the tower fly past before me, amazingly tall and strange. It never seemed to end.

Finally, I reached the ocean, sunk, and floated to the surface. The King of Red Lions floated up behind me, and I climbed in, all the while, keeping my eye on the tower that seemed to have grown out of the ocean.

"This is the Tower of the Gods." The King of Red Lions said to me quietly, and I said nothing in response.

This would be my greatest challenge yet. Without a doubt.

Kansou no Satsuka

_**Or: Wow. Welcome to the Half-Way Point.**_

Oh, you damn well heard me. You are officially half-done this story. Congratulations.

And a big congrats to me. Holy man. Ten chapters up and done... and it only took me 1 1/4 years to do it.

You know, looking back, I really think I've improved well over all of this time. Not much, but certainly some. I'm proud.

So, yeah. On this chapter itself, I think it turned out well. But WHOA is it long. This chapter is just under twice as long as all the others. I didn't think it would be that long. I mean, all it was was from Greatfish Isle to the outside of the Tower of the Gods.

Certainly underestimated it, I suppose.

Well, thanks for coming out again to read, and reviews are appreciated.

So, until next time, all...

-Shojo!


	11. A Companion, Found

Chapter Eleven: A Companion, Found

_"This would be my greatest challenge yet. Without a doubt.__"_

_Dark._

As the King of Red Lions and I floated softly into the Tower of the Gods, it was one of the only words to come my mind. _Dark. Just like the other dungeons._

My eyes adjusted quickly. The room we entered was as large as an isle itself, and water flooded the level, deep enough to make me think for a minute that there was no floor. Tan-gray stone lined the walls, and tree-like arches webbed all around the room, holding up the "roof" as best they could. I could see no actual roof, however; only a black void. Several square stone pillars sat around the room, the tops too high to see what lied on top. A grand golden-brass pillar stood attached to the middle of the back wall, taking up at least a quarter of the room. A gigantic face stared out on each side, flooding gallons of water from their mouths every second, making enough noise to nearly deafen me. I laughed a little bit to myself as I imagined the tower as not even a challenge; simply a monsterous bath house.

Suddenly, the water level shot up violently with a deafening rush. The boat swung to and fro, taking on water, my body being sucked down to the floor of the boat with all of my muscles tensing and my stomach churning. It lasted only a second, but it felt as if it lasted minutes.

As soon as it had stopped, I peered cautiously over the tip of the boat, taking in deep and heavy breaths, and tasting salt-mist in the air. We were level with the tops of the stone pillars, and there were steel platforms on top, with doors leading wherever they might on the walls behind them.

"Come on," I shouted to the King of Red Lions over the sound of rushing water, "over there!"

We gradually floated to the platform closest to us, and I jumped out of the boat. My feet grinded against the coarse dust and grime that had collected on the metal, and I could see remnants of something cut into the floor. I bent down to wipe bits of grime away, and revealed an intricate emblem of sorts. In the middle of it sat a boy holding a stick. I looked at it for a minute, trying to figure out what it meant, but, puzzled, I gave up and walked to the door in the wall.

The door seemed almost as if it were engraved right into the wall, but regardless, I placed my hand up against it, and it shot open instantly. The room behind it was full of water, almost as if a block of blue gel sat there still and frozen. I looked back at the King of Red Lions, confused.

"Go!" he yelled at me, when another loud rush filled the room, and the King, as well as the water that flooded all around, dropped out of sight. I hesitantly turned back to the door, still open. The water had disappeared, and so I stepped in, slowly and unsure. The door crashed to a close behind me. Before me stood a short hall, just as tall as the last room. There were a few torches by the door, several moist, wooden boxes spread around, and above me I could see alcoves in the wall, but unreachable by any standard. I could guess how I would have to get up there.

I walked forward for a few steps before I heard a threatening vibrato, not like anything a human would make. With several splats, electric-yellow gel monsters, the same kind of parasites that fed off of the Great Deku Tree, dropped from the black void of a ceiling. They started to slip and slide towards me, oozing with a poisonous goo. My heart began beating faster. I backed into a nearby corner slowly, quietly, and the monsters crouched down, preparing to jump on me. I took a heavy breath, and one of the creatures leapt out fast, preemptive. I grabbed for my sword, swinging it out in front and slashing the monster in two. I began freaking out, slashing all of his friends behind him, cutting through, cleanly, sweetly.

I began to feel an odd sensation biting through me across every nerve and bone. It was almost like being on fire. It felt like heat swelling over, then a cool breeze, and then nothing. I lost my sight for a second, and fell onto my back disoriented.

The monsters evaporated into the air like dust on the plains, and a gust of wind blew out the torches that sat by the door. I found myself on the same dark plain as at Dragon Roost Isle: a darkness covering me, stretching into forever. Only a single soft, white light shone down on me.

"Hello?!" I yelled out in fear, my throat feeling raw and red, "HELLO?! ANYBODY?!"

Then the same shooting pain I knew from before, when I tried to think about my past, rocketed through the back of my neck, running all down my spine and through every bit of my body, worse, much worse than before. I yelled out in pain, before mustering out a simple, "Damn it... not again..."

And then I collapsed.

--

When I finally opened my eyes again, I was lying amongst the same darkness as when I collapsed.

"HELLO?!" I screamed as loud as I could, but it hurt my throat. _Damn it_, I thought to myself, _where the hell am I now?_

As I looked around slowly, I noticed a soft light, far off into the darkness. It looked like a candle, burning so meekly, but giving off a cool, purple glow. I pushed myself up from the ground, aching a bit, and walked towards the light. I walked for several minutes before I finally stood above the source.

It was a little orb of purple light, almost fuzzy-looking. Two thin, insect-like flaps stuck out the side, and I assumed that they were wings. I bent down into a squat to examine it closer, and as I brought my ear close, I could hear light breaths, marking a slow beat.

"What...?!" I questioned to myself. Just as I said the word, the orb twitched a bit. It flapped its wings, once, twice, and was in the air, not without effort. I backed a few feet away quickly, scared of whatever it might've been.

It noticed my fear, and so fluttered slowly towards me. The little voice, one of a maturing girl, murmured from the orb, "Heehee! Don't be afraid of me! What's your name?"

I gulped, and whispered to her, "L-Link... My name is Link."

She giggled, and fluttered around a bit, like a little dance in mid-air, "Link! That's a nice name! I'll always remember it!"

I gained a bit of my confidence back, and so asked, "What's... your name? What are you?"

She stopped where she was in the air, "Well, I'm a fairy, of course, and... why, it's silly! I don't think I've ever been given a name! Why don't YOU name me, Link?"

"Navi," I said after some thought, "I... I just think the name suits you... I guess..."

She tittered with a high squeak, and said back, "Navi! I like that name! Navi, Navi, Navi! It's so... me!"

Navi did her little dance in the air again, and I laughed, "You're really happy, aren't you?"

"Yep," she said with a smile in her voice, "I've always happy!"

At that moment, I sat silent. It was strange, but I felt some sort of connection to this fairy. Like I had felt her presence before, or seen her, although I've never met her in my life... it was almost like deja vu.

As silence filled the air, I looked around us. The darkness seemed more empty and lifeless, somehow, and as if it were closing in. I wanted to ask where we were, if she had any idea what was happening...

Just then, Navi was ripped away from me. She screamed out to me as I could see her pulled back, away, at least three times faster than the King of Red Lions had ever sailed on the sea. I ran forward, and yelled out, "NAVI!!"

My legs pulled me from where I stood fast, so, so, fast. I ran after Navi with all my strength, but almost before I had even started moving, she was gone into the darkness.

"Navi...!" I said, mostly to myself. I wondered why she suddenly mattered so much, but I didn't know. Maybe I was to find out in due time, _but for now..._

The room I was in before, the short hall, began to fade back in from the darkness. I looked around, quickly. Nothing had changed at all.

"I'm getting out of this room..." I whispered to myself, and backed up to the door, which shot open like it did before. The King of Red Lions sat in the water by the platform.

"Was there nothing to be found?" he asked, urgently. I waited for just a moment, before shaking my head. I walked through the door, and stepped lightly into the boat once again.

"Are you sure there was nothing of importance there?" he asked again, unsure of me.

I gulped. "I'm sure," I said to him in a low voice. My mind still flashed back to Navi's voice, as she screamed for help.

As if it were an emergency.

As if she had something to tell me.

Kansou no Satsuka

OR: _GET ON WITH IT._

That's right, people. It's been about 8 months since the last chapter.

This might be a short one, but better short than nothing at all. I've decided to finally sit down and finish this story once and for all. I'm tired of complaining about having to do this story, and how I have to do so much work. So you know what? I'm just gonna do it.

Anyways, like I said, I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but if I didn't get anything out to you, seriously, I might as well have been on a hiatus.

But I refuse to resort to that. Because I can do this, I just need to stop procrastinating.

All right.

I can do this.

-S.


End file.
